LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

GIFT  OF 

c  ,,<h 


Class 


\\     ._~,. 


.     . 


SPEECHES  AND  ESSAYS. 


SPEECHES   AND   ESSAYS 


UPON 


POLITICAL    SUBJECTS, 


FROM 


1860    TO    1869. 


BY  WILLIAM  D.  NORTHEND. 


UNIVERSITY   | 

OF  / 

SALEM : 

PUBLISHED    BY    H.    I>. 

1869. 


Swasey  Printing  Office, 

235,  ESSEX  STREET,    SALEM. 


PREFACE. 


The  speeches  and  essays  on  political  subjects 
which  are  collected  in  this  volume,  were  delivered 
or  published  during  the  eventful  period  which  has 
elapsed  since  the  Presidential  election  of  1860. 

The  opinions  expressed  wero  not  in  accordance 
with  the  popular  sentiment  at  the  time.  My  pur 
pose  was  to  vindicate,  so  far  as  I  was  able,  the  immuta 
ble  principles  upon  which  the  Union  as  organized  by 
the  Constitution  was  based ;  and  to  show  the  im 
portance  of  that  Union  for  the  welfare  and  happi 
ness  of  the  different  great  Communities  which  com. 
posed  it.  Although  a  wide  departure  from  these 
principles  has  been  made  during  this  period,  yet  I 
have  the  fullest  confidence  that  the  American  people 
will,  at  no  distant  day,  return  to  them  with  a  love 
strengthened  by  their  experience ;  and  that  under 
the  organism  of  the  past,  or  a  more  effectual  one 
which  shall  be  suggested  by  the  events  of  this  pe 
riod,  a  harmonious  co-operation,  based  upon  the 
reciprocity  of  interests  of  the  people  of  the  several 
States,  will  be  revived  and  made  perpetual. 


vi  PREFACE. 


With  these  convictions,  I  submit  these  speeches 
and  essays  to  the  calm  judgment  of  my  fellow-citi 
zens  of  my  native  County  of  Essex,  to  whom  I  re 
spectfully  dedicate  this  small  volume. 

SALEM,  AUGUST  20th,  1 869. 


CONTENTS. 


THE  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL '9 

A  speech  delivered  in  Massachusetts  Senate  February  27,  1861. 

FOURTH  OF  FEBRUARY  CONVENTION 29 

A  speech  delivered  in   Massachusetts  Senate  February  4,  1861. 

RESOLVES  ON  THE  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.     .     .    34 

A  speech  delivered  in  Massachusetts  Senate  March  26,  1862. 

MARYLAND  AND  MASSACHUSETTS 44 

A  speech  delivered  in  Massachusetts  Senate,  April  22,  1862. 

ADDRESS  AT  SALEM 46 

An  address  delivered  before  the  citizens  of  Salem,  July  4,  1862 

SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.     .........     78 

Delivered  before   the  Constitutional     Democratic  Club,    Boston 
November  4,  1863. 

SPEECH   AT  SALEM.     .........     98 

Delivered  before  the  Democratic  Convention  at   Salem,   April  21 
1864; 

SPEECH  IN  FANEUIL  HALL 107 

Delivered  at  the  Convention  to  elect  Delegates  to  the  Philadelphia 
Convention,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  August  1866. 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.     .     .'••-.     ..     .     .     113 

Delivered  at  Manchester  N.  H.,  January  22,  1868. 

THE  UNITED  STATES  CONSCRIPTION  ACT.     .     .     134 

Published  in  the  Boston  Courier,  August  20, 1863. 

THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY 155 

Published  in  the  American  Monthly  Magazine,  January  1865. 

THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.    .    .    .    .    .     178 

Published  in  the  American  Monthly  Magazine,  April  1865. 

CAUSES  OP   SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.     .     .     .     204 

Published  in  the  Southern  Keview,  July  1867. 

THE  SWAMPSCOTT  RIOT  CASE 251 

An  argument  made  in  the  case  of  Stone  v  Segur  et  ah.  in   the   Su 
preme  Court  at  Salem,  November  Term,  1865. 


THE  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.* 


Mr.  PRESIDENT — The  subject  which  it  has  become 
our  duty  to  consider  at  the  present  time,  is  one  in 
volving  principles  and  rules  of  action,  vastly  trans 
cending  in  importance  the  practical  question  of  the 
utility  of  the  laws  which  it  is  proposed  to  repeal  or 
modify. 

The  subject  forces  irresistibly  upon  our  minds  a 
consideration  of  our  duties  and  obligations  as  citi 
zens,  to  sustain  and  give  vitality  to  the  wise  and 
beneficent  system  of  civil  government  which  we 
have  inherited,  under  which  we  live,  and  in  which 
are  involved  all  our  precious  hopes  of  the  future. 

By  our  action  of  to-day  we  shall  deliberate!}"  and 
formally  express  for  ourselves,  and  so  far  as  we  rep 
resent  them,  for  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  wheth 
er, — irrespective  of  what  people  in  other  sections  may 
do,  without  throwing  into  the  balance  our  likes  and 
our  dislikes,  our  convictions  for  this  or  against  that 

provision, — we  will,  to  the  letter  and  in  the  spirit, 

i 

*  Delivered  in  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  February  27,  1861. 
2 


10  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

perform  all  of  our  obligations  under  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States ;  or  whether, — governed  by 
a  spirit  of  retaliation,  by  hostile  opinions  and  deter 
minations, — we  will  manifest  an  open  contempt  for. 
and  so  far  as  we  can,  nullify,  objectionable  provis 
ions  of  that  great  instrument. 

This  government  was  instituted  by,  and  its 
healthful  existence  depends  upon,  the  will  of  the 
people,  and  during  its  continuance  it  is  more  or  less 
efficient,  gathers  strength  or  develops  weakness  as 
it  is  respected  and  obeyed  on  the  one  hand,  or  tra 
duced  and  its  requirements  evaded  on  the  other. 

And  as  the  Constitution  was  based  upon  compro 
mises  and  concessions  of  the  different  States  and 
sections,  any  State  or  section  which  avails  itself  of 
the  benefits  and  compromises  in  its  favor,  without 
performing  its  entire  obligations  in  those  matters 
conceded  to  other  States  in  this  great  charter  of  our 
rights,  acts  unfairly  towards  such  other  States,  dis 
loyally  towards  the  Constitution,  and  inflicts  irjuries 
upon  the  government  itself,  which,  if  persisted  in. 
must  in  the  end  prove  fatal. 

From  the  necessity  of  the  case,  arising  from  the 
complications  of  the  sovereignties  of  the  State  and 
General  Governments,  the  Constitution  must  deal  in 
general  terms  with  many  subjects,  leaving  it  to  the 
wisdom,  patriotism,  and  highest  interest  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  different  sections  to  carry  out  its  obvious? 
intent  honestly  and  in  good  faith. 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  \\ 

If  the  people  of  each  State  and  section,  in  a  spir 
it  unfriendly  to  the  Constitution,  should  determine 
and  undertake  to  legislate  and  act  without  regard 
to  the  opinions  and  interests  of  the  people  of  other 
States  and  sections,  the  Constitution  would  become 
practically  a  nullity,  and  the  government  would  not 
be  worth  preserving. 

And  any  State  which  undertakes  to  exercise  such 
extreme  powers,  except  in  instances  where  self  pro 
tection  absolutely  requires  it,  commits  a  grievous 
wrong  on  the  Constitution,  and  the  government  it 
created. 

If  experience  has  demonstrated  that  provisions 
of  the  Constitution,  or  legal  enactments  under  it.  are 
so  oppressive  or  offensive  that  we  cannot  consent 
to  them  as  our  fathers  did,  then  counsel  with  the 
people  for  whose  benefit  they  were  made,  appeal  to 
the  ballot-box,  call  a  convention  for  their  change; 
or  even,  if  these  fail,  raise  the  standard  of  revolt, 
which  is  far  more  honorable,  and,  in  the  end,  not 
more  destructive  than  acknowledging  the  obliga 
tions  with  our  lips,  and  evading  and  nullifying  them 
in  our  practice. 

I  do  not  mean  in  what  I  say  to  reproach  Massa 
chusetts  for  her  acts  in  the  past.  She  does  not  de 
serve  it.  I  fail  to  sec  anything  in  her  history  as  a 
Commonwealth  which  renders  her  justly  amenable 
to  any  charge  of  disloyalty.  She  has  performed 
her  full  duty  when  it  was  repugnant  to  the  best  and 


12  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

highest  feelings  of  her  citizens.  She  has  uttered  her 
complaints  and  expressed  her  convictions  when  she 
has  felt  that  the  general  government  was  too  severe 
in  its  exactions,  but  she  has  always  obeyed  all  its 
legal  requirements. 

And  sir,  I  am  not  prepared  to  pass  a  censorious 
judgment  upon  her  for  the  enactment  of  the  laws  of 
1855,  with  her  apprehensions  of  danger  to  her  citi 
zens  from  the  indefensible  severity  of  the  fugitive 
slave  law  of  1850 ;  they  were  passed  before  the  fu 
gitive  slave  law  had  been  .declared  constitutional 
by  the  United  States  Court,  and  their  precise  legal 
effect  was  not  sufficiently  considered  by  the  Legis 
lature. 

But  when  our  attention  is  now  directed  toward 
them,  and  from  a  careful  examination  we  have  rea 
son  to  believe  that  they  are  in  conflict  with  legal 
enactments  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States,  I  do  s&y  that  we  may  for  the  first  time  put 
Massachusetts  clearly  and  culpably  in  the  wrong,  by 
refusing  to  repeal  them,  or  to  so  modify  them  as  to 
relieve  them  of  all  objections  of  uncpnstitution- 
ality. 

And  to  a  full  understanding  of  our  obligations 
under  the  acts  of  Congress  relating  to  the  rendition 
of  fugitive  slaves,  it  will  be  useful  to  refer  to  the 
circumstances  connected  with,  and  reasons  for,  the 
provision  in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
upon  the  subject.  It  is  obvious  to  every  one  that 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL,  13 

the  Constitution  could  not  have  been  adopted  and 
the  Union  consummated,  unless  the  North  had  con 
sented  that  slavery  remain  in  the  States  where  it 
existed,  and  with  that  acknowledged  fact  it  became 
"necessary,  as  an  incident  to  it,  that  the  owners  should 
have  the  right  to  retake  their  slaves  if  they  escaped 
into  other  States  in  the  Confederacy ;  without  this, 
slavery  could  hardly  exist  in  the  Border  States,  and 
a  powerful  temptation  would  be  offered  to  those  op 
posed  to  the  system  in  the  Free  States  to  aid 
in  the  escape  of  fugitives,  and  thus  a  serious 
source  of  difficulty  in  the  future  would  be  opened. 
Accordingly  a  provision  was  inserted  in  the  Consti 
tution  that  "  no  person  held  to  service  or  labor  in 
one  State,  under  the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  an 
other,  shall  in  consequence  of  any  law  or  regulation 
therein  be  discharged  from  such  service  or  labor, 
but  shall  be  delivered  up  on  claim  of  the  party  to 
whom  such  service  or  labor  may  be  due."  This 
was  adopted  by  the  convention  unanimously ;  and 
in  the  convention  of  this  State,  called  for  its  ratifi 
cation,  composed  of  our  ablest  and  best  men,  no  ob 
jection  was  made  to  this  provision.  And  this  was 
not  the  first  instance  of  the  recognition  of  such  a 
law.  In  the  ordinance  of  1787,  drawn  up  by  Na 
than  Dane,  was  a  similar  provision.  And  in  the 
earlier  history  of  our  country  we  find  the  same  ne 
cessity  acknowledged. 

In  1643  the  Colonies  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  Ply- 


14  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

mouth,  Connecticut  and  New  Haven  entered  into  ar- 
tioles  of  Confederacy,  in  which  was  the  following  stip 
ulation  :  "It  is  also  agreed,  if  any  servar.t  run  away 
from  his  master  into  any  other  of  these  confederated 
jurisdictions,  that  in  such  cases,  upon  the  certificate  of 
one  magistrate  in  the  jurisdiction  out  of  which  the 
said  servant  fled,  or  upon  other  due  prcof.  the  said 
servant  shall  be  delivered  either  to  his  master  or 
any  other  that  pursues  and  brings  such  certificate  of 
proof."  And  in  1650  a  compact  was  made  between 
this  Confederacy  and  New  Netherlands,  in  which  it 
was  agreed  that  "the  same  way  and  course"  con 
cerning  fugitives  should  be  adopted. 

Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  the  provision  in  the 
Constitution  concerning  fugitive  slaves  was  in  con 
formity  to  precedent,  and  was  a  necessary  conse 
quence  of  the  compromises  of  that  instrument. 
And  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution  it  was 
legitimate  for  Congress  to  legislate  for  the  purpose 
of  carrying  into  effect  this  provision,  and  according 
ly,  in  1793,  Congress  enacted  a  law  for  the  rendi 
tion  of  slaves.  This  passed  the  senate  without 
division,  and  there  were  only  seven  votes  against  it 
in  the  house,  of  which  one  was  from  Massachusetts, 
one  from  Virginia,  and  one  from  Maryland.  This 
law  remained  in  force  for  half  a  century  without 
any  serious  objection.  In  1842,  a  slave  (Latimer) 
was  incarcerated  in  one  of  our  jails  under  circum 
stances  of  aggravation,  and  the  same  year  the 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  15 

Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  case  of 
Prigg  vs.  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania,  held  that 
the  States  were  not  obliged  to  aid  in  the  execution 
of  the  law,  which  induced  and  justified  the  law  en 
acted  by  the  next  session  of  our  legislature,  which 
prohibited  the  use  of  our  jails  for  the  purposes  of 
the  fugitive  slave  law,  and  forbade  certain  State  mag 
istrates  from  taking  part  in  cases  of  rendition. 

In  1850,  a  supplementary  fugitive  slave  law  was 
passed  by  Congress,  containing  many  odious  and 
harsh  provisions. 

The  people  of  the  free  States  believed  that  the 
very  severity  of  the  law  would  prevent  its  success 
ful  operation,  and  waited  in  the  hope  that  it  would 
be  declared  void  by  the  judicial  tribunals. 

In  1854,  a  slave  (Burns)  was  returned  into  sla 
very  from  Boston,  under  circumstances  which 
created  much  excitement  in  the  Commonwealth, 
and  the  legislature,  in  1855,  enacted  laws  which, 
with  the  laws  of  1843,  constitute  the  so-called 
" Personal  Liberty  Hill" 

The  attention  of  the  legislature  of  1856  was  di 
rected  to  the  anomalous  provisions  of  this  law,  and 
a  bill  for  its  repeal  passed  the  house  of  representa 
tives,  when  intelligence  of  an  assault  upon  one  of 
our  senators  in  Congress  prevented  its  further  pas 
sage  ;  and  it  is  very  clear  that  had  it  not  been  for 
this  outrage,  this  law  would  have  been  swept  from 
the  statute  books  by  that,  the  first  republican  legis 
lature  of  this  State. 


16  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

In  1858  the  attention  of  the  legislature  was  di 
rected  to  the  law,  and  upon  the  recommendation  of 
governor  Banks,  some  of  the  most  objectionable  por 
tions  of  it  were  repealed.  For  reasons  stated  in 
his  recent  message,  he  did  not  advise  further  revis 
ion  of  it  at  that  time,  although  in  his  judgment  it 
was  proper  that  further  revision  should  be  made. 

Our  attention  is  now  directed  to  it  by  the  use 
that  has  been  made  of  it  as  a  pretext  in  other 
States,  and  also  by  petitions  from  a  large  and  re 
spectable  portion  of  our  own  citizens ;  and  a  large 
committee  of  both  branches  have  patiently  and  fully 
considered  the  entire  subject,  and  made  a  unanimous 
report  as  the  result  of  their  deliberations,  which  we 
are  now  called  upon  to  consider. 

In  my  judgment  the  bill  proposed  by  the  Com 
mittee  relieves  the  law  from  unconstitutional  objec 
tions,  and  should  be  passed  as  reported,  although 
with  my  convictions  of  the  slight  practical  value  of 
the  law,  and  of  the  sufficient  protection  our  laws  af 
ford  without  it.  I  should  have  preferred  an  uncondi 
tional  repeal  of  all,  excepting  the  section  relating 
to  kidnapping. 

The  original  personal  liberty  act.  in  the  recent 
revision  of  our  statutes,  was  divided  up,  and  in  our 
general  statutes  is  to  be  found  in  the  144th  chapter, 
under  the  titles  of  personal  liberty,  and  habeas  car 
pus,  and  I  would  call  your  attention  briefly  to  a 
consideration  of  the  different  sections.  Under  the 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  17 

head  of  personal  liberty,  sections  58  and  59  pro 
vide  for  the  defence  of  alleged  fugitives  at  the  ex 
pense  of  the  State.  Sections  60  and  67  forbid  per 
sons  holding  certain  offices  under  the  State  from 
aiding  in  cases  of  rendition,  and  certain  United 
States  officers  from  holding  certain  State  offices. 
We  may  legally  enact  such  prohibitions,  although  of 
little  practical  value  to  the  alleged  fugitive ;  the  ob 
jection  to  them,  if  any  exists,  is  in  the  penalties  at 
tached  to  them. 

Sections  63,  64  and  65  forbid  sheriffs,  militia, 
&c.,  from  rendering  any  aid  in  cases  of  rendition. 
It  •  is  contended,  and  fairly  I  think,  that  these  sec 
tions  forbid  the  employment  of  the  militia  to  sup 
press  any  popular  outbreak  in  cases  of  rendition. 
This  is  wrong  and  in  bad  faith.  It  manifests  a  dispo 
sition  to  nullify  the  law  by  giving  license  to  a  mob  to 
obstruct  its  exercise  and  violate  the  peace  without 
any  resistance  from  the  authorities.  This  objec 
tion  is  met  and  relieved  by  the  bill  of  the  Com 
mittee.  Section  62  provides  for  punishing  the 
offence  of  kidnapping.  This  is  clearly  a  proper 
subject  for  legislation,  but  as  under  this  section  a 
liability  attaches  to  a  person  acting  honestly  under 
a  supposed  right,  the  Committee  have  reported  an 
amendment  which  relieves  it  of  this  objection.  The 
above  are  all  of  the  sections  under  the  head  of 
"Personal  Liberty,"  intended  to  have  any  effect  in 
cases  of  rendition. 

3 


18  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

I  now  propose  to  consider  the  sections  of  the 
habeas  corpus  law  relating  to  this  subject.  They 
are  the  6th,  19th,  20th  and  21st  sections  of  said 
144th  chapter. 

They  are  intended  to  authorize — 

1st.     The  taking  of  the  fugitive  from  restraint. 

2d.  A  trial  by  jury  upon  all  matters  in  the  re 
turn  of  the  officer,  "or  alleged" 

3d.  Pleadings  and  rules  of  evidence  on  the  trial, 
of  an  anomalous  character. 

So  far  as  these  sections  are  intended  for  the  pur 
pose  of  authorizing  the  taking  of  the  alleged  fugi 
tive  from  the  custody  of  the  United  States  Marshals, 
by  an  officer  of  this  Commonwealth,  or  for  a  trial 
by  jury  upon  the  question  whether  service  or  labor 
is  due,  or  to  hinder  and  obstruct  the  execution  of 
the  law  by  unusual  and  anomalous  proceedings  on 
the  trial,  they  conflict  with  laws  of  the  United 
States;  as  the  Constitution  provides  that  "The 
Constitution,  and  the  laws  of  the  United  States 
which  shall  be  made  in  pursuance  thereof,  *  *  * 
shall  be  the  supreme  law  of  the  land;  and  the 
judges  of  every  State  shall  be  bound  thereby,  any 
thing  in  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  any  State  to  the 
contrary  notwithstanding." 

Section  6  provides  for  the  form  of  the  writ  of 
habeas  corpus,  to  be  directed  to  the  sheriff  and  his 
deputies,  in  cases  of  restraint  by  persons  not  sher 
iffs,  deputy  sheriffs,  coroners  or  jailors.  By  the  Re- 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  19 

vised  Statutes,  cases  of  restraint  by  the  marshal 
and  his  deputies  were  included.  These  have 
been  striken  out  since.  From  a  literal  construction  of 
this  section,  which  is  aided  by  our  previous  legisla 
tion  just  stated,  it  is  clearly  the  intent  that  our 
sheriff  shall  be  authorized  to  take  from  the  custody 
— from  the  hands — of  the  United  States  Marshal, 
the  alleged  fugitive,  whom  he  may  have  under  a 
proper  warrant  under  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  laws ;  and  if  that  is  the  construction  of  it, 
there  is  no  one  who  doubts  that  the  provision  is 
unconstitutional.  We  have  no  right,  we  can  have  no 
power,  by  any  State  law,  to  take  a  man  out  of  the 
custody  of  the  United  States  Marshal,  held  under  a 
proper  warrant.  If,  in  any  way,  the  Marshal  can, 
by  summons  or  otherwise,  be  brought  before  a  State 
tribunal ;  if  he  there  shows  that  he  holds  the  prison 
er  by  a  warrant  under  the  laws  of  the  United  States, 
issued  by  a  court  of  competent  jurisdiction,  then 
our  courts  can  go  not  one  step  further.  They  have 
no  right  to  inquire  into  the  constitutionality  of  the 
law  under  which  that  warrant  was  issued;  they 
have  no  right  to  go  back  of  that  warrant  and  in 
quire  into  the  question  whether  service  was  due 
from  the  fugitive,  which  was  the  basis  of  the  pro 
ceeding  upon  which  that  warrant  was  issued.  They 
can  only  look  at  the  papers;  they  can  only  pass 
upon  the  question  whether  the  person  holding  him 
is  a  United  States  officer,  and  whether  the  process 


20  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  DILL. 

was  issued  by  a  proper  officer  or  court,  under  the 
authority  of  the  United  States ;  and  back  of  that 
there  is  no  authority,  and  there  can  be  no  power,  in 
any  of  our  State  courts,  to  act.  If  this  law  goes 
further, — if  it  is  intended  to  permit  a  fugitive  slave 
a  trial,  by  jury  or  by  the  court,  upon  the  question 
whether  he  owes  service  or  labor, — that  would  be 
clearly  unconstitutional.  There  is  no  jury,  and  no 
court,  that  can  have  the  power,  in  this  State,  to  pass 
upon  the  question  whether  a  slave,  properly  in  the 
hands  of  the  Marshal,  owes  service  or  labor.  The 
statute  is  to  this  effect:  that  the  alleged  fugitive 
shall  have  a  trial  by  jury,  and  that  upon  that  trial 
the  jury  shall  pass  upon  those  particular  matters 
contained  in  the  return  of  the  officer,  or  alleged. 
This  being  a  civil  proceeding,  any  matters  may  be 
alleged  on  either  side,  and  it  may  be  alleged  that 
he  was  not  a  fugitive,  or  did  not  owe  service ;  and 
the  jury,  under  this  law,  are  empowered,  and  it  is 
their  duty,  to  pass  upon  the  subject,  and  bring  in  a 
general  verdict,  which  shall  be  final  and  conclusive. 
I  submit  that  if  this  is  the  construction  of  the  law, 
it  is  clearly  and  unqualifiedly  in  contravention  of 
the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

Then  in  regard  to  the  evidence.  It  seems  to  me 
that  when  we  undertake  to  depart  from  the  usual 
modes  of  trial,  and  institute  a  new  and  anomalous 
mode,  one  which  puts  burdens  which  are  unprece 
dented  upon  the  party  claiming,  in  the  court,  and 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  21 

when  that  is  made  to  apply  to  a  law  of  the  United 
States  upon  this  subject,  and  to  no  other,  it  is  cer 
tainly  offensive  to  that  government,  it  is  certainly 
open  to  the  objection  that  it  is  an  attempt,  upon 
our  part,  to  interfere  with  and  delay  proceedings 
under  a  law  of  the  United  States. 

The  bill  proposed  by  the  Committee  entirely  re 
lieves  this  law  of  these  objections. 

The  bill  of  the  Committee  proceeds  further  to 
provide  that  the  sheriff,  after  he  has  served  the  writ, 
may  make  his  return  thereof  only  to  the  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  instead  of  to  the  Justices  of  the 
Supreme  Court  and  of  the  Superior  Court,  as  pro 
vided  by  the  present  law.  That  point  has  been 
properly  commented  upon  by  the  Chairman,  [Mr. 
Stone,]  and  every  one  who  is  cognizant  of  the  pro 
ceedings  in  court,  knows  that  this  is  for  the  protec 
tion  and  for  the  benefit  of  any  one  who  seeks 
redress  under  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  I  am  will 
ing  and  desirous,  in  this  matter,  to  give  all  the  aid 
and  protection  which  it  is  within  the  power  of  the 
legislature  to  give,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  take  away 
any  legal  immunities  the  fugitive  may  properly  have 
under  our  laws. 

This  is  the  last  provision.  The  bill  of  the  Com 
mittee,  in  my  opinion,  provides  for  the  relief  of  the 
constitutional  objections  to  the  law  as  it  now 
stands. 

There  are  few  in  the  community  who  do  not  believe 


22  PERSONAL   LIBERTY  BILL. 

that  the  law  in  regard  to  personal  liberty  and 
habeas  corpus  should  be  construed  as  this  Committee 
have  construed  it.  I  do  not  think  that  there  is  any 
one  who,  with  a  view  to  our  obligations  under  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States,  will  not  admit 
that  the  law  should  be  thus  construed.  There  are 
some  who  believe  that  with  this  construction  the  act 
is  valid.  But  I  do  not  see  how  any  one  one  can  hold 
that  opinion  in  regard  to  these  two  sections,  with 
out  very  grave  doubt,  in  opposition  to  the  opin 
ion  of  some  of  our  ablest  and  most  learned  jurists. 
Many  will  feel  regret  that  the  law,  with  this  con 
struction,  will  be  of  little  practical  value.  For, 
if  a  fugitive  slave  is  arrested  by  the  United  States 
Marshal  or  his  deputy,  under  a  warrant,  and  there 
is  no  power  to  take  him  out  of  their  hands,  the 
law  can  be  of  no  benefit  to  fugitives  in  that 
class  of  cases.  It  is  the  largest  class,  and  with 
this  construction  would,  of  course,  be  the  only  class 
in  the  future.  For  no  person  who  should  come  to 
Massachusetts  to  retake  his  slave  would  come  and 
undertake  to  do  it  personally,  when  he  could  be  pro 
tected  by  a  warrant,  and  act  under  the  authority  of 
a  United  States  Commissioner.  For  this  reason  I 
consider  the  law  of  little  practical  value  to  the 
fugitive.  It  may  still  be  of  possible  benefit  to 
him  if  he  should  be  arrested  by  his  owner  without 
a  warrant.  And  if,  as  is  contended,  the  law  as  it 
will  remain,  or  as  it  should  properly  be  construed, 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  23 

operates  to  give  to  the  slave  an  opportunity  to 
raise  questions  of  law  to  further  test  any  provisions 
of  the  fugitive  slave  law,  then  certainly  I  should  de 
sire  that  he  should  have  the  benefit  of  it.  And  if  I 
believed  that  privilege  was  one  material  to  him  in  any 
respect,  I  should  certainly  not  entertain  the  views  I 
now  hold  in  regard  to  the  repeal  of  the  entire  act. 

But7  sir,  there  are  many  who  have  doubted  the 
propriety  of  making  any  revision  of  these  laws, 
from  an  apprehension  that  if  they  were  repealed,  no 
safeguard  would  be  left  for  our  personal  liberties, 
We  are  told  that  any  individual  might  with  impuni 
ty  be  dragged  from  his  house,  in  the  night  time — 
that  there  is  nothing  to  protect  the  free  citizens  of 
Massachusetts,  if  these  laws  are  repealed,  or  of  no 
effect.  Why,  sir,  if  these  laws  are  repealed,  we 
have  still  remaining  upon  our  statute-books  the  pro 
visions  of  the  law  of  habeas  corpus  which  have  pro 
tected  our  people  in  the  past,  and  which  are  capa 
ble  of  protecting  them  amply  in  the  future.  We 
have  the  most  admirable  system  of  habeas  corpus. 
Any  person  who  may  be  improperly  in  restraint  may 
demand  the  writ,  precisely  the  same  as  under  this 
law,  even  if  constitutional.  In  the  first  proceeding, 
— in  the  proceeding  of  rescuing  a  man  from  immedi 
ate  danger,  there  is  not  a  pretended  provision  in  the 
personal  liberty  act  which  gives  him  any  protection 
over  the  habeas  corpus  laws,  which  would  remain  if 
the  whole  act  of  1855  were  repealed.  The  writ  of 


24  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

habeas  corpus  would  be  issued  as  now  by  any  Judge 
of  the  Supreme,  Superior,  Probate  or  Police  Courts, 
and  if  none  known  to  be  within  five  miles,  then  by 
any  Justice  of  the  Peace.  That,  after  all,  is  the 
great  point  of  importance  to  the  community; 
because,  there  is  no  one  who  can  reasonably 
doubt  but  that  if  a  person  improperly  restrained 
is  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  those  who  im 
prison  him,  by  a  writ  of  this  Commonwealth, 
and  brought  before  the  Supreme  Judicial  Court,  his 
rights  will  be  secured  to  him,  whether  it  be  by  the 
wisdom  of  the  Court,  or  by  a  trial  by  jury,  with  the 
protections  afforded  by  this  bill. 

Mr.  President,  we  have  ample  securities  for  every 
one,  for  the  white  man,  for  the  black  man,  for*  the 
freeman  and  for  the  fugitive.  It  is,  sir.  the  great 
objection  to  this  act, — that  our  laws  had  already 
covered  the  whole  ground,  and  that  we  have  full  pro 
tection  without  going  beyond  them  and  infringing 
upon  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States. 

But  it  is  further  objected  to  the  repeal  or  modifi 
cation  of  these  laws,  that  although  the  arguments 
against  them  which  I  have  suggested  may  be  well 
founded, — although  there  may  be  doubt  with  regard 
to  their  constitutionality,  yet  we  should  let  them 
remain  until  the  Court  has  declared  them  void.  To 
such  I  would  say  that  it  is  of  importance,  always, 
that  all  laws  be  clear,  and  particularly  that  a  law  of 
this  character,  which  affects  rights  of  persons  in 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  25 

other  States,  should  not  be  misunderstood.  It  is 
important  further  that  the  law  should  not  hold  out 
a  false  security  to  those  who  are  intended  to  be 
bcnefittcd  by  its  provisions.  We  do  injustice  to  the 
fugitive,  if  we  hold  out  to  him  an  apparent  protec 
tion  when  he  has  none  in  fact.  It  is  right  for  him, 
for  us,  and  for  the  people  of  other  States,  that  there 
should  be  no  ground  for  misconstruction  of  our  laws 
upon  this  subject. 

Another  objection  urged  is,  that  it  is  not  how  the 
time  to  take  this  action, — that  the  existence  of  these 
laws  upon  our  Statute  Book  has  been  used  by  dishon* 
est  men  in  other  States  to  our  discredit  and  to  the  dis 
advantage  of  the  country.  There  is  no  doubt,  Mr. 
President,  that  this  is  true.  But  the  men  who  have 
used  sucli  arguments  have  used  them  as  pretexts — 
they  have  used  them  to  overpower  Union  men  in  the 
Southern  States — in  South  Carolina,  in  Georgia, 
and  in  other  seceding  States,  with  more  or  less  ef 
fect.  I  would  do  nothing  at  this  time  with  the 
expectation  of  influencing  the  people  of  those  States, 
as  they  arc  situated.  .  But  there  is  another  class  of 
people — there  is  another  class  of  States,  upon  which, 
if  this  modification  can  have  any  beneficial  effect,  it 
seems  to  me  all  will  desire  it.  There  are  the  Bor 
der  States,  so  called — there  are  the  States  of  Vir 
ginia,  of  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Tennessee,  Delaware, 
Maryland — States'  which,  with  all  the  efforts  that 
have  been  made  to  seduce  them,  with  all  the  excite- 


26  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

ments  in  the  Gulf  States,  have  as  yet  remained  true 
and  loyal  to  the  Union.  And  it  is  not  without  diffi 
culty  that  it  has  been  so.  The  Union  men  in  those 
States  have  had  to  contend  against  great  odds. 
They  have  had  to  fight  against  this  spirit  which  has 
come  in  upon  them  from  the  neighboring  States,  and 
some  of  them  have  thus  far  achieved  glorious  results. 
If,  by  any  action,  we  can  strengthen  the  hands  and 
cheer  the  hearts  of  these  noble  men  who  are  fight 
ing  for  the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  should  we 
not  do  it  ?  I  think  there  is  no  one  who  would  not 
rejoice,  if  in  any  way  he  could  aid  them  in  their 
patriotic  struggles. 

It  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  in  my  judgment 
to  the  future  of  this  people,  that  these  States  re 
main  true.  Sir,  notwithstanding  all  that  has  hap 
pened,  I  have  a  faith  that  we  shall  live  to  see  the 
day  when  every  State  which  has  ever  been  connect 
ed  with  the  Union  will  be  in  the  Union.  I  have  a 
belief  that  when  the  hour  of  madness  has  passed 
away,  one  by  one,  these  States  will  return,  to  re 
main,  without  compulsion — without  coercion.  And 
until  that  time,  these  noble  border  States  will  stand 
as  they  have  stood,  with  us.  Their  people  will  have 
met  the  reproaches  of  the  people  of  the  slave 
States  of  the  South.  They  will  have  taken  us  by 
the  hand;  we  shall  have  talked  with  them  as  we 
have  never  talked  with  people  of  the  slave  States 
before,  and  they  will  have  talked  with  us  as  they 


PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL.  27 

never  talked  with  us  before ;  we  shall  have  opened 
our  hearts  to  them  and  they  theirs  to  us ;  we  shall 
have  removed'  all  the  doubts  and  misunderstandings 
that  existed  between  us,  and  they  will  see  us  as  we 
are,  true  and  patriotic  men,  as  they  have  not  before 
believed  us  to  be.  If  these  States  remain  in  the 
Union,  it  never  stood  so  strong  as  it  will  stand 
under  these  circumstances.  These  Border  States, 
situate  between  us  and  the  States  of  the  Gulf,  will  be 
the  conservative  States ;  and  if  the  States  of  the 
Gulf  shall  return,  there  can  be  no  pretext  used  from 
which  the  people  of  the  Border  States  will  not  de 
fend  the  North,  nothing  in  which  they  will  not  stand 
by  the  North.  Let  us  do  all  we  can,  honorably  and 
properly,  that  may  aid  the  people  of  the  Border 
States  to  understand  our  real  sentiments,  and  that 
will  give  strength  and  courage  to  their  Union  loving 
men. 

Sir,  I  feel  a  solicitude  that  in  this  crisis  of  our 
national  affairs  Massachusetts  should  stand  above 
reproach  or  even  suspicion.  I  will  not  consider,  for 
it  is  not  the  time  nor  the  occasion,  whether  other 
States  have  done  their  duty.  We  all  have  our  con 
victions  upon  this  point.  We  are  only  now  to  con 
sider  whether  Massachusetts  shall  do  her  duty. 
If  we  can  go  before  the  country  with  no  stain  of 
disloyalty  on  our  garments,  with  a  consciousness 
that  no  enactment  of  our  beloved  Commonwealth 
affords  just  cause  of  offence  to  our  brethren  in  other 


28  PERSONAL  LIBERTY  BILL. 

States,  we  carry  with  us  an  immense  moral  influ 
ence  ;  we  present  an  example  which  in  the  present, 
and  more  in  the  future,  will  have  a  commanding  in 
fluence  upon  our  sister  States.  Sir,  the  ways  of 
Providence  in  their  inception  and  progress  are  often 
mysterious  to  us,  but  it  is  not  un/requently  given  to 
man  to  trace  back  their  unerring  courses  from  the 
final  results.  And,  sir,  I  have  felt  oftentimes  that 
as  a  people  we  have  not  any  of  us  appreciated  our 
blessings  as  we  should — that  in  the  enjoyment  of  un 
equalled  privileges  for  nearly  a  century  under  the 
wonderful  system  which  our  fathers  inaugurated,  we 
have  forgotten  that  their  continuance  depends  upon 
the  performance  by  us  of  some  disagreeable  duties. 
And,  sir,  if  the  present  unhappy  state  of  the  coun 
try  shall  lead  us  all,  in  all  the  States,  back  to  the 
living  fountains  from  which  our  fathers  drank — if  it 
will  cause  us  to  forget  our  animosities  and  estrange 
ments,  and  bring  us  all,  North  and  South,  East  and 
West,  with  fraternal  love  about  the  altar  of  our 
common  country,  the  experience,  bitter  as  it  is,  will 
not  have  been  in  vain. 


FOURTH  OF  FEBRUARY  CONVEN 
TION.* 


MR.  PRESIDENT — It  is  a  time  when  all  true  pa 
triots  should  carefully  consider  every  proper  sug 
gestion  having  for  its  object  the  peace  and  safety  of 
the  country,  and  we  should  be  very  careful  that  the 
strong  and  natural  feelings  excited  by  the  flagrant 
acts  of  rebellion  in  a  very  considerable  section  of 
the  country,  do  not  unduly  affect  our  judgment  in 
looking  ;at  the  real  state  of  affairs,  or  in  considering 
remedies  that  may  be  proposed.  It  is  morally  cer 
tain,  from  the  present  condition  of  the  country,  that 
a  resort  to  arms  for  the  protection  of  the  Govern 
ment  will  be  necessary,  unless  through  the  influence 
of  wise,  judicious  and  prudent  men  the  intense  ex 
citement  in  the  seceding  States  can  be  allayed,  and 
thus  an  opportunity  offered  for  the  returning  ascen 
dency  of  reason  and  judgment. 

Whilst  no  lover  of  his  country  will  hesitate  to 
perform  his  full  duty  in  the  last  resort,  yet  wisdom 

*  Delivered  in  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  February  4,  1861, 
upon  the  Resolves  for  the  appointment  of  Commissioners  to  tho 
Virginia  Convention  of  February  4th. 


30         FOURTH  OF  FEBRUARY  CONVENTION 

patriotism,  and  true  courage,  demand  that  we  shall 
not  neglect  to  improve  every  proper  opportunity  to 
avert  such  a  calamity,  and  any  proposition,  from  any 
quarter,  which  opens  a  possible  and  honorable  ave 
nue  to  avoid  precipitating  the  country  into  a  war 
should  be  entertained  by  us.  In  considering  our 
duties  in  regard  to  the  States  in  open  rebellion 
even,  we  should  remember  the  truth  which  all  his 
tory  demonstrates,  and  to  which  I  trust  this  in 
stance  is  not  anexception,  that  all  attempted  revolu 
tions  and  sectional  resistance  to  the  laws,  underta 
ken  without  an  adequate  cause,  are  instigated  and 
controlled  by  a  misguided  and  excited  minority 
whose  desperation  and  madness  suppress  the  voice 
even  of  the  majority  whom  they  appear  to  repre 
sent,  yet  who  in  reality  deplore  the  catastrophe 
which  in  their  position  they  have  been  powerless  to 
avert.  I  believe  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the 
States  which  have  undertaken  secession,  excepting, 
perhaps,  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  love  the 
Union,  and  look  anxiously  forward  to  the  time  when 
the  wise  action  of  patriots  in  other  sections  will 
prove  the  falsity  of  the  pretexts  by  which  unscrupu 
lous  politicians  have  been  enabled  to  deceive  and 
mislead  their  infatuated  followers,  and  allay  the  ex 
citement  ;  or  when,  this  proving  ineffectual,  the 
strong  and  paternal  arm  of  the  government  shall 
compel  the  offenders  to  an  obedience  to  the  laws. 
Upon  this  ground  I  base  my  hopes  of  our  beloved 


FOURTH  OF  FEBRUARY  CONVENTION.         31 

country  in  the  future,  and  for  one,  whatever  were 
the  motives  which  dictated  the  calling  of  the  Con 
vention  of  February  Fourth,  I  would  respond  to  the 
invitation,  hoping,  however  faintly,  that  it  will  legiti 
mately  aid  in  relieving  the  embarrassments  of  the 
country ;  and  if  not,  that  we  shall  have  the  satisfac 
tion  in  the  uncertain  future,  that  in  this  instance, 
at  least,  we  endeavored  to  leave  no  duty  undone. 

The  purport  of  the  Resolutions  of  Virginia  have 
been  misunderstood  by  many  Senators.  The  first 
Resolve  is  the  only  one  which  prescribes  the  pur 
poses  of  the  Convention,  and  the  only  one  intended 
to  give  direction  to  its  proceedings.  The  other 
resolutions  provide  for  the  election  of  Commis 
sioners  by  the  several  States  and  express  the  opin 
ion  of  Virginia  as  to  the  basis  upon  which  an  ad 
justment  should  be  made,  but  there  is  nothing  in 
them  mandatory  upon  the  action  of  the  Convention. 

The  first  Resolve  is  as  follows : 

Resolved, — That  on  behalf  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Virginia,  an 
invitation  is  hereby  extended  to  all  such  States,  whether  slave, 
holding  or  non-slaveholding,  as  are  willing  to  unite  with  Virginia 
in  an  earnest  effort  to  adjust  the  present  unhappy  controversies,  in 
the  spirit  in  which  the  Constitution  was  originally  formed,  and 
consistently  with  its  principles,  so  as  to  afford  to  the  people  of  the 
slaveholding  States  adequate  guarantees  for  the  security  of  their 
rights,  to  appoint  Commissioners  to  meet  on  the  4th  day  of  Febru 
ary  next,  in  the  City  of  Washington,  similar  Commissioners  ap 
pointed  by  Virginia,  to  consider  and  if  practicable  agree  upon 
some  suitable  adjustment. 

By  this  Resolve  is  clearly  intended  an  adjustment 


32        FOURTH  OF  FEBRUARY  CONVENTION. 

of  existing  controversies  upon  correct  principles 
and  in  a  proper  spirit,  and  Virginia  only  claims 
that  in  the  adjustment  adequate  guarantees  for  the 
securities  of  the  rights  of  the  slave  States  be  in 
cluded.  In  this  I  believe  Virginia  is  right,  and  no 
adjustment  can  or  should  be  made  without  such 
guarantees.  I  believe  that  Virginia  will  not,  and 
under  the  Resolves  cannot,  claim  that  the  establish 
ment  of  such  guarantees  is  the  exclusive  duty  of  the 
Convention,  and  that  if  she  does,  the  Commissioners 
from  the  other  States  will  and  should  oppose  such  a 
construction.  If  this  Convention  is  called  in  good 
faith,  with  a  sincere  desire  to  avert  civil  dissension, 
we  may  confer  a  benefit  on  the  country  by  taking 
part  in  it  j  and  if  not  thus  called,  as  supposed  by 
some,  then  it  seems  to  me  it  is  clearly  our  duty  to 
be  represented  in  the  convention  to  see  that  no  mis 
chief  is  clone.  It  is  time  for  us  to  act  and  act  de 
cidedly  in  the  matter.  There  has  been  already  too 
much  delay.  A  majority  of  the  free  States  have  al 
ready  chosen  Commissioners,  and  whatever  our  own 
opinions,  we  should  defer  somewhat  to  the  opinions 
of  the  people  of  our  sister  States.  Let  us  not,  as 
is  proposed  by  the  substitute  offered,  evade  the  sub 
ject — let  us  meet  the  question  fairly,  and  determine 
uneqtiivo:ally  whether  we  will  or  will  not  take  part 
in  the  Convention. 

Above  all,  let  Massachusetts  show  to  Virginia 
that  if  she  shall  prove  recreant,  that  here  still  ex- 


FOURTH  OF  FEBRUARY  CONVENTION.        33 

ists  a  love  and  devotion  for  our  common  country 
— that  the  spirit  of  liberality  and  fraternal  love 
which  animated  our  fathers  has  not  diminished  with 
time,  and  that  we  at  least  have  not  forgotten  the 
sufferings  and  sacrifices  of  the  founders  of  the  Re 
public,  that  the  people  of  these  United  States  and 
their  posterity  forever,  might  enjoy  the  blessings  of 
an  enlightened  republican  civil  government. 


RESOLVES    ON    THE    PRESIDENT'S 

MESSAGE.* 


Mr.  PRESIDENT  : — It  is  impossible  for  any  of  us 
to  exaggerate  the  importance  of  the  great  struggle 
in  which  the  Government  is  involved, — important  to 
the  entire  future  of  this  great  people,  and  not  less 
so  to  the  cause  of  free  institutions  throughout  the 
world.  The  Government  of  the  Union  was  inau 
gurated,  not  without  doubt,  by  our  fathers.  By  a 
large  majority  of  the  people  of  the  old  world  it  was 
regarded  as  an  experiment,  unsupported  by  the 
great  facts  of  history.  Its  failure  was  predicted. 
But  it  was  everywhere  conceded  that,  if  the  system 
should  prove  successful, — if  this  Government,  em 
anating  from  and  depending  upon  the  people,  could 
sustain  itself  through  those  great  trials  and  crises 
which1  had  been  incident  to  the  history  of  every 
Government,  and  in  which  so  many  with  immense 

*Delivered  in  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  March  26th,  1862, 
Resolutions  had  been  reported  approving  the  President's  Message 
of  March  6th,  to  which  an  amendment  was  moved  by  Mr.  Thomp 
son  of  Hampden,  approving  the  entire  policy  of  the  President^ 
which  amendment,  after  full  discussion,  was  defeated  by  a  vote  of 
12  to  22. 


PRESIDENTS  MESSAGE,  36 

central  powers  had  suffered  shipwreck,  it  would 
mark  an  era,  and  would  be  the  signal  for  an 
immense  and  universal  advancement  in  the  great 
cause  of  liberty  and  of  popular  institutions  through 
out  the  civilized  world. 

This  Government  has  survived  the  exigencies 
and  trials  of  nearly  three-quarters  of  a  century, 
and  many  of  them  of  such  a  character  as  to  lead 
us.  and  its  friends  in  the  old  world,  to  the  belief 
that  its  permanency  and  success  were  substantially 
demonstrated. 

But  in  the  hour  of  our  greatest  prosperity,  when 
the  people  of  the  country  had  come  to  regard  the 
invincibility  of  the  Government  as  an  established 
fact,  and  looked  forward  to  a  future  of  uninterrupt 
ed  peace  and  prosperity,  we  have  been  suddenly 
called  to  meet  a  crisis  of  such  magnitude  and  pro 
portions  as  no  one  could  have  anticipated.  The 
only  great  and  untested  trial  to  our  Government, 
under  most  inauspicious  combinations  and  circum 
stances,  is  now  upon  us,  and  in  our  day  and  genera 
tion  the  great  problem  of  popular  institutions  is  to 
be  settled  for  at  least  a  century  to  come.  The 
principles  our  fathers  fought  for,  the  Government 
they  established,  the  prestige  of  its  unexampled  suc 
cess  for  so  long  a  time,  all  stand  trembling  in  the 
balance;  and  the  responsibility  for  a  right  issue, 
with  the  interposition  of  a  wise  Providence,  is  upon 
us, — upon  the  individuals  of  the  country,  upon  the 


36  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE. 

citizens  in  the  legislative  halls,  and  the  citizens  in 
their  homes.  No  one  is  exempt  from  responsibili 
ty,  and  upon  individual  patriotism,  and  individual 
efforts,  will  history  declare  the  great  results  of  this 
time. 

For  months  we  have  waited  with  the  deepest 
anxiety  for  tidings  of  success  of  our  army  against 
the  stupendous  rebellion.  We  have  recent  cause 
for  gratitude  that  our  fellow-citizens  in  the  army 
are  doing  their  entire  duty,  and  are  exhibiting  a 
patriotism  and  heroism  which  will,  sooner  or  later, 
put  to  an  ignominious  flight  all  those  arrayed  in 
arms  against  the  Government.  But  is  this  all  that 
is  to  be  accomplished  ?  Is  the  great  work  of  the 
time  finished  with  the  "  crushing  out "  of  armed  re 
bellion  ?  Although  indispensable,  it  is  but  the  com 
mencement  of  the  performance  of  our  duties.  That 
finished,  we  have  a  country  to  restore,  the  Govern 
ment  to  be  obeyed  by  a  willing  people.  This  re. 
suit  will  not  depend  upon  the  army,  but  upon  us, — 
upon  the  legislators  and  the  people.  This  is  not  a 
war  of  subjugation.  It  is  a  war  for  and  under  'the 
Constitution,  to  protect  loyal  men  oppressed  by 
armed  rebellion ;  and  to  induce  a  return  to  loyalty  r 
and  a  love  and  reverence  for  the  Constitution,  by 
showing,  as  we  shall  have  an  opportunity,  that  can 
not  and  will  not  be  mistaken,  that  the  incendiary 
statements  of  the  authors  of  the  rebellion  were  not 
founded  on  fact — that  they  were  only  plausible  pre 
texts. 


PRESIDENTS  MESSAGE.  37 

This  once  fully  shown,  we  have  a  more  united  and 
loyal  people  than  we  have  had  for  thirty  years,  and 
we  continue  on  our  great  and  glorious  mission  with 
a  power  and  authority  which  will  more  than  compen 
sate  for  all  our  losses  ami  trials.  But  if  it  shall  be 
otherwise, — if  the  people  of  this  Confederacy,  to 
whom  has  been  entrusted  the  maintenance  of  the 
Government  in  this  great  crisis,  shall  determine  to 
forget  the  instructions  of  the  fathers, — if  they  shall 
be  governed  by  their  passions, — if  demagogues  arid 
the  tyranny  of  party  shall  usurp  the  seat  ol  patriot 
ism  and  true  loyalty, — if  an  unbridled  and  licen 
tious  spirit  of  recklessness  shall  madden  and  impel 
our  people  to  disregard  the  guarantees  of  the  Con 
stitution,  without  which  our  Government  would  have 
never  been  established,  then  sir,  I  see  nothing  but 
ruin  and  disaster  in  the  future. 

Let  it,  sir,  be  once  distinctly  understood,  that  this 
Government  intends  to  take  advantage  of  the  pow 
er  which  this  unprecedented  state  of  affairs  has  en 
trusted  it  with,  to  the  subversion  of  Constitutional 
rights,  and  a  disregard  of  constitutional  obligations, 
and  the  success  of  our  arms  will  have  been  in  vain. 
Loyal  men  of  to-day  at  the  South,  will  see  that  their 
rights  are  violated,  and  they  will  strike  the  heaviest 
blows  for  their  protection  against  usurpation.  The 
authors  of  the  rebellion  will  be  able  to  triumphantly 
show  to  their  followers,  that  the  specious  pretexts 
which  they  had-  used  so  successfully,  if  not  based 


3  8  PRESIDENT'S  MESS  A  GE. 

upon  fact,  have  resulted  in  reality,  and  the  last  ray 
of  hope  for  a  restoration  of  the  Union  will  have  dis 
appeared. 

The  President  of  the  United  States,  from  the  day 
of  his  inauguration  to  the  present  time,  has  pro 
claimed  that  the  purpose  of  this  war  is  the  restora 
tion  of  the  Union  under  the  Constitution ;  and  un 
der  this  proclamation,  and  for  the  purposes  of  it, 
one-half  million  pf  our  fellow-citizens  have  volun 
teered  for  the  war!  Every  act  of  the  Administra 
tion  has  been  consistent  with  this  proclamation,  and 
we  are  now  called  upon  to  express  our  opinions  up 
on  this  policy  of  the  Administration ;  and*!  beg  leave 
of  the  Senate,  to  read  from  the  messages  of  the 
President,  to  show  the  clear,  unqualified,  and  unmis 
takable  position  of  the  Administration,  upon  the 
prosecution  of  the  war. 

President  Lincoln,  in  his  Inaugural  Message,  says : 

"I  have  no  purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists.  I  believe  I  have 
no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  J  have  no  inclination  to  do  so.  Those 
who  nominated  and  elected  me,  did  so  with  the  full  knowledge  that 
I  had  made  this,  and  many  similar  declarations,  and  had  never  re 
canted  them.  And,  more  than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform  for 
my  acceptance,  and  as  a  law  to  themselves  and  to  me,  the  clear  and 
emphatic  resolution  which  I  now  read." 

"Resolved  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of  the 
States,  and  especially  the  right  of  each  State  to  order  and  control 
its  own  domestic  institutions,  according  to  its  own  judgment  exclu 
sively,  is  essential  to  that  balance  ot  power  on  which  the  perfection 
and  endurance  of  our  political  fabric  depend;  and  we  denounce  the 
lawless  invasion,  by  armed  fores,  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Ter 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  3$ 

ritory,  no  matter  under  what  pretext,  as   among  th  e   gravest  of 
crimes/' 

"I  now  reiterate  these  sentiments,  and  in  doing  so,  I  only  press 
upon  the  pffblic  attention,  the  most  conclusive  evidence  of  which 
the  case  is  susceptible,  that  the  property,  peace,  and  security  of  no 
section,  are  to  be  in  anywise  endangered  by  the  now  incoming  Ad 
ministration." 

In  his  message  to  the  special  session  of  Congress, 
July  4th,  he  says : 

"Lest  there  be  some  uneasiness  in  the  minds  of  candid  men  as 
to  what  is  to  be  the  course  of  the  Government  toward  the  Southern 
States  after  the  rebellion  shall  have  been  suppressed;  the  Executive 
deems  it  proper  to  say,  it  will  be  his  purpose  then,  as  ever,  to  be 
guided  by  the  Constitution  and  the  Laws,  and  that  he  will  probably 
have  no  different  understanding  of  the  powers  and  duties  of  the 
Federal  Government,  relatively  to  the  rights  of  the  States  and  the 
people  under  the  Constitution,  than  that  expressed  in  the  inaugu, 
ral  address.  He  desires  to  preserve  the  Government,  that  it  may 
be  administered  for  all,  as  it  was  administered  by  the  men  who 
made  it." 

In  his  Message  to  the  present  session  of  Congress, 
in  December,  the  President  refers  to  his  two  former 
messages  upon  this  subject,  and  says,  '-Nothing  now 
occurs  to  add  or  subtract  to  or  from  the  principles 
or  general  purposes  stated  and  expressed  in  those 
documents." 

In  his  Message  of  March  6th,  the  President  re 
commends  to  Congress,  the  adoption  of  a  joint  res 
olution,  to  the  effect  that  the  United  States  ought 
to  co-operate  with  any  State  which  may  adopt  a 
gradual  abolishment  of  slavery,  by  giving  pecuniary 
aid  for  such  purpose. 


40  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE. 

This  course  has  been  approved  by  eminent  and 
conservative  statesmen,  for  many  years,  and  its  adop 
tion  at  the  prevent  time  is  specially  recommended 
with  the  hope  that  it  may  induce  some  of  the  more 
Northern  slaveholding  States  to  emancipate  their 
slaves,  and  by  so  doing,  weaken  the  hopes  of  the 
leaders  of  the  insurrection.  The  resolution  contem 
plates  only  such  action  as  is  strictly  within  the  lim. 

its  of  the  Constitution.     As  the  President  correctlv 

• 

states  in  the  Message  proposing  the  resolve. — 

"Such  a  proposition  on  the  part  of  the  General  Governme  nt,  se 
up  no  claim  of  a  right  by  Federal  authority  to  interfere  with  slav 
ery  within  State  limits,  referring  as  it  does  the  absolute  control  o 
the  subject,  in  each  case,  to  the  State  and  its  people  immediately 
interested.  It  is  proposed  as  a  matter  of  perfectly  free  choice  with 
them." 

The  President  further  says  : 

"The  point  is  not  that  all  the  States  tolerating  slavery  would 
soon,  if  at  all,  initiate  emancipation;  but  that  while  the  offer  is 
equally  made  to  all,  the  more  Northern  shall  by  such  initiation 
make  it  certain  to  the  more  southern,  that  in  no  event  will  the  for 
mer  ever  join  the  latter  in  their  proposed  Confederacy.  Initiation' 
because,  in  my  judgment,  gradual  and  not  sudden  emancipation 
is  better  for  all." 

These  plain  and  intelligible  enunciations  of  the 
principles  by  which  the  Administration  proposed  to 
be  guided,  met  with  the  approval  of  the  entire  peo 
ple  of  the  loyal  States,  excepting  the  class  whose 
basis  of  operations  is  outside  the  Constitution. 
Men  of  all  parties  joined  in  a  patriotic  and  enthusi 
astic  support  of  the  President  upon  this  distinct 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  41 

line  of  policy,  who  would  not  upon  any  other ;  and 
all  who  now  advocate  a  different  principle  of  action 
not  only  place  themselves  in  opposition  to  the  Ad 
ministration,  but  initiate  a  partisan  conflict.  This 
war  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Government,  is  ei 
ther  for  the  purpose  of  restoring  and  maintaining 
the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution,  or  for  the  de 
struction  of  it.  There  is  no  middle  ground.  If 
Senators  believe  there  is  such  a  necessary  antago 
nism  between  slave  labor  in  one  State  and  free  la 
bor  in  another  that  they  cannot  exist  together  in  the 
future,  they  should  reflect  how  far  this  belief  justifies 
an  attempt  at  separation.  I  believe  there  is  no 
such  antagonism,  and  the  experience  of  seventy 
years  demonstrates  it. 

I  have  not  favored  the  passage  of  any  resolutions 
by  the  Legislature  upon  the  conduct  of  national  af 
fairs,  and  have  taken  no  part  in  discussions  refer 
ring  to  past  issues,  but  these  resolutions  have  been 
pressed  upon  us,  and  we  shall  be  wanting  in  duty  if 
we  remain  silent.  It  is  proposed  to  endorse  a  por 
tion  of  the  President's  policy  without  reference  to 
the  remainder.  Such  a  course,  as  stated  by  the 
Senator  from  Hampden,  Mr.  Thompson,  in  his  elo 
quent  remarks,  might  imply  a  repudiation  of  the  pol 
icy  not  referred  to.  All  Senators  who  have  spoken, 
have  stated  that  the  people  concurred  in  the  entire 
policy  of  the  President.  If  this  is  true,  why  not 
express  it  here.  The  policy  of  the  President  has 


42  PRESIDENT  8  J\  1ESSA  GE. 

been  continuous,  connected,  and  consistent,  and 
should  be  endorsed  as  a  whole.  I  believe  that  it 
has  been  wise,  judicious,  patriotic.  The  people  be 
lieve  so.  Senators  who  state  that  the  policy  of  the 
President  previous  to  March  6th  is  approved  by  their 
constituents,  and  record  their  votes  against  the  pro 
posed  resolve,  will  be  misunderstood  by  the  people. 
We  should  act  with  a  view  to  oar  great  responsibil 
ities  in  the  present,  with  a  wise  regard  to  the  future, 
forgetting  all  past  differences  and  party  divisions. 

Our  greatest  and  most  holy  duty  is  to  sustain  the 
Government.  Every  other  consideration,  however 
important,  is  secondary  to  it.  The  evils  of  slavery 
were  known  to  the  fathers,  as  they  are  known  to 'us, 
yet  they  permitted  them,  in  order  that  they  might 
achieve  the  paramount  good  of  a  Government  for 
this  whole  people.  Let  us  not  assume  to  be  better 
or  wiser  than  they  were.  These  evils  cannot  be 
properly  relieved  by  violence,  or  the  arbitrary  use 
of  power.  They  were  not  born  in  a  day.  They 
cannot  be  cured  in  a  day.  Providence  will  work 
out  its  own  great  results.  This  war  is  for  the  puri 
fication  of  the  nation,  but  not  by  the  overthrow  of 
the  Government,  or  a  perversion  of  any  of  its  fun 
damental  principles.  Events  sublime,  collossal,  irre- 
sistable,  arc  at  work.  If  we  listen,  we  can  hear 
their  mighty  tread.  We  cannot  hasten  or  aid  their 
progress  by  the  exercise  of  extraordinary  powers. 
Our  duty  is  to  exercise  faith,  patience,  in  the  sup- 


PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  43 

port  of  the  Government.  Let  us  do  this,  and  God 
will  protect  the  right7  and  in  his  own  way,  and  in 
his  own  good  time,  will  purify  us  from  the  wrong. 

I  know  of  no  way  for  the  restoration  of  the  Un 
ion,  unless  the  pilots  of  the  great  ship  of  State  shall 
be  guided  by  the  North  Star  of  the  Constitution. 
If  this  shall  be  obscured — if  we  veer  to  the  right 
hand  or  the  left,  we  shall  find  ourselves  on  a  dark 
and  tempestuous  ocean,  with  no  haven  for  safety,  our 
brave  soldiers  and  seamen  will  have  fought  to  no 
purpose,  the  host  of  noble  patriots  who  have  offered 
up  their  lives,  will  have  died  in  vain ;  and  history 
will  record  the  humiliating  truth,  that  because  the 
sons  would  not  perform  the  conditions  imposed  by 
the  fathers,  they  lost  forever,  for  themselves  and 
their  posterity,  the  most  precious  inheritance  ever 
bequeathed  to  a  great  and  prosperous  people. 


MARYLAND    AND    MASSACHUSETTS.* 


Mr.  President :  In  this  hour  of  darkness  to  the 
Republic,  when  suspicion  and  distrust  prevail,  and 
the  public  mind  is  inflamed  with  bitter  animosities, 
the  slightest  occurrence  exhibiting  good  will,13  the 
smallest  word  spoken  in  kindness  by  one  portion^of 
this  people  to  another,  is  not  without  its  beneficent 
effect.  The  State  of  Maryland  from  her  position, 
her  business,  her  social  connections,  and  her  institu 
tions,  was  susceptible  to  the  contagion  of  Rebellion 
v:hich  had  swept  like  a  blight  through  States  on  her 
border.  And,  maddened  by  the  distractions  of  the% 
time,  by  the  malaria  which  was  borne  upon  every 
breeze  from  the  South,  a  portion  of  her  people  com 
mitted  a  most  grievous  crime  against  the  Govern 
ment,  by  murderous  assaults  upon  loyal  citizens  has 
tening  to  the  national  capital  to  protect  it  from 
traitor  hands  which  were  raised  for  its  destruction ; 
and  the  victims  were  men  of  Massachusetts,  our 
own  neighbors,  brothers,  and  sons.  Massachusetts 

^Delivered  in  the  Senate  of  Massachusetts,  April  22,  1862, 
upon  the  Resolve  in  relation  to  the  Act  passed  by  the  General  As 
sembly  of  Maryland,  for  the  relief  of  the  families  of  the  killed  and 
wounded  of  Massachusetts,  at  Baltimore,  April  19th,  1861. 


MARYLAND  AND  MASSACHUSETTS,  45 

felt  most  deeply  the  wrong,  but  she  felt  it  more  in 
sorrow  and  sadness,  than  in  anger.  She  mourned 
that  any  citizen'  could  raise  his  hand  against  that 
Government  which  had  showered  blessings  upon  all, 
and  in  whose  perpetuity  all  her  hopes  of  the  future 
were  centred.  It  was  more  to  her  than  the  loss  of 
her  children.  And  now,  when  by  the  patriotic  ef 
forts  of  the  sons  of  Maryland,  that  noble  State  is 
rescued  from  the  vortex  of  secession  into  which  a 
portion  of  her  people  would  have  plunged  her,  she 
speaks  to  Massachusetts.  She  deplores  the  wrong 
which  some  of  her  citizens  committed,  and,  although 
as  a  State  she  was  not  responsible  for  it,  she  sends 
from  her  treasury  for  the  relief  of  the  wounded  and 
the  families  of  the  killed.  The  loyal  heart  of  Mary 
land  has  spoken.  Massachusetts  will  respond  with 
a  magnanimous  spirit.  Side  by  side,  and  shoulder 
to  shoulder,  the  sons  of  Maryland  and  of  Massachu 
setts  are  fighting  the  battles  of  our  country ;  and 
when  the  blessings  of  peace  shall  be  proclaimed 
with  not  a  star  obliterated  from  our  banner,  may  all, 
these  experiences  contribute  to  cement  these  two 
noble  and  ancient  States  in  the  common  brother 
hood  of  the  Union. 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.* 


Day  of  hallowed  memories — anniversary  of  our 
National  Independence  and  of  the  birth  of  the  Un- 
on — with  hearts  filled  with  gratitude  we  welcome 
thy  return.  To  God  we  render  devout  thanks  that 
we  are  permitted  this  inestimable  privilege,  and 
that  through  the  thick  clouds  and  darkness  which 
envelope  us,  we  may  yet  see  hope  for  the  future  of 
our  beloved  country. 

It  is  meet  and  proper  that  we  should  consecrate 
this  day  to  our  country.  Its  hours  are  sacred. 
They  connect  us  with  the  fathers.  In  their  patri 
otism  and  wisdom  the  people  of  this  great  Republic, 
distracted  and  embittered  by  civil  dissensions,  con 
cur.  If  we  will  study  their  recorded  opinions,  and 
become  imbued  with  their  spirit,  the  path  of  our 
duty  in  the  momentous  future  will  be  plain  and  in 
telligible.  Read  the  history  of  the  fathers,  of  their 
sufferings  and  privations,  not  alone  that  you  may 
be  animated  with  a  feeling  of  pride  at  their  devo- 

Delivered  before  the  citizens  of  Salem,  at  Mechanic's  Hall,  July 
4th,  1862. 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  47 

tion,  courage  and  self-sacrifice,  but  that  it  may  serve 
to  fix  and  intensify  in  your  minds  the  great  princi 
ples  and  objects  for  which  they  labored. 

It  was  not  for  power ;  it  was  not  from  motives  of 
personal  ambition  or  aggrandizement  that  they  suf 
fered;  but  that  they  might  vindicate  the  authority 
of  the  people,  and  be  enabled  to  rear  a  governmental 
fabric,  which  should  be  for  the  permanent  happiness 
and  prosperity  of  the  teeming  millions  who  they  fore 
saw  must  in  the  future  people  this  immense  continent. 
It  was  not  for  themselves  and  those  with  whom  they 
acted  alone,  but  for  their  children's  children  to  the 
latest  generation,  that  they  devoted  their  lives  and  ' 
efforts.  They  were  not  enthusiasts.  Dispassionate 
judgment,  reason  and  forethought  characterized  all 
their  acts. 

The  great  and  sublime  object  of  their  lives  was  con. 
stantly  before  them.  Unmoved  and  serene,  they 
seemed  elevated  above  the  excitements  of  the  timer 
and  from  their  majestic  height  to  direct  calmly  the 
progress  of  events.  Temporary  disappointments 
and  disasters,  difficulties  and  dangers,  served  only  to 
increase  their  efforts,  and  strengthen  their  faith  and 
devotion. 

Under  their  guidance,  the  war  of  the  Revolution 
was  brought  to  a  successful  termination.  Their  first 
purpose  was  accomplished,  and  the  way  opened  for 
the  consummation  of  the  great  object  of  their  labors — 
the  establishment  of  a  government  which  would 


48  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

secure'to  all  the  nighest  blessings  of  civil  liberty, 
and  bind  the  people  of  the  thirteen  States  in  a  per 
petual  Union.  Both  were  in  their  view  indispensa 
ble.  A  permanent  government  based  upon  the  will 
of  the  people  was  the  end  to  be  attained ;  and  to 
accomplish  this  they  deemed  a  union  of.  the  people 
of  all  the  States  an  absolute  necessity.  They  felt 
that  a  liberal  government,  to  be  perpetual  must  in 
clude  the  whole^-that  it  would  be  impossible  for 
more  than  one  government  to  maintain  a  peaceable 
existence  on  this  continent  over  people  of  the  same 
race,  civilization  and  spirit.  * 

It  was  for  the  purpose  of  establishing  such  a  gov 
ernment  -and  Union  that  the  Convention  of  1787 
was  held.  It  was  composed  ol  the  master  spirits  of 
the  Revolution,  and  presided  over  by  the  immortal 
Washington.  The  men  who  had  directed  the  desti 
nies  of  the  people  through  the  trials  and  discourage 
ments  of  an  eight  years'  war,  were  now  called  upon 
to  undertake  the  most  arduous  and  responsible 
duties  of  the  stateman.  But  they  shrank  not  from 
the  labor  and  responsibility.  They  assembled  to 
gether,  animated  by  a  common  spirit  of  patriotism, 
and  occupied  a  continuous  session  of  three  months,  in  a 
calm  and  deliberate  consideration  and  discussion  of 
the  object  for  which  they  were  convened,  and  the 
best  mode  of  accomplishing  it.  It  was  a  stupendous 
work.  The  opinions  and  prejudices  of  the  people, 
sectional  interests,  and  existing  powers  aud  right 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  49 

were  to  be  harmonized,  and  a  government  proposed 
which  would  be  accepted  by  all.  These  difficulties 
were  aggravated  by  the  experience  they  had  passed 
through.  There  had  existed  a  Confederation  of  the 
States  for  five  years  and  a  virtual  Union  for  a  longer 
period.  Yet  during  all  this  time  each  State  exer 
cised  all  rights  of  sovereignty ;  and  even  under  the 
Confederation,  no  act  of  the  Continental  Congress 
which  it  established  was  effectual  until  adopted  by 
the  States.  Its  powers  were  practically  only  advi 
sory.  Great  difficulties  had  occurred ;  and  the  local 
power  was  often  invoked  against  the  requirements 
of  the  Union,  adding  strength  to  State  authority  and  . 
zeal  to  sectional  prejudice.  These  difficulties  were 
to  be  encountered  and  overcome.  It  required  and 
called  forth  a  spirit  of  compromise  and  concession, 
by  which  alone  the  great  result  could  be  accomplish 
ed.  The  most  serious  difficulty  which  embarassed 
the  Convention  was  in  the  disposal  of  the  rights  ex 
isting  in  the  States.  From  the  experience  of  the 
past,  all  felt  the  beneficial  results  of  local  legislation 
upon  the  interests  of  the  people  j  and  yet  it  was 
evident  that,  if  a  permanent  and  authoritive  govern 
ment  was  to  be  established  for  the  entire  people,  it 
must  be  clothed  with  important  rights  and  preroga 
tives  which  would  essentially  abridge  the  powers  of 
the  States. 

In   viaw   of  the   difficulties  and    embarassments 
arising  from  this  state  of  things,  the   Convention  fi- 


50  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

nally  determined  that  the  proposed  new  government 
should  be  invested  only  with  such  rights  and  powers 
as  would  be  necessary  for  the  general  purposes  of 
government — leaving  to  the  State  governments  the 
entire  control  of  their  local  institutions  and  laws, 
not  conflicting  with  the  positively  prescribed  object s> 
and  authority  of  the  General  Government :  and  that 
each  Government  within  its  prescribed  sphere  should 
be  independent  of  the  other. 

This  system,  originating  in  the  necessities  of  the 
time — although  recently  perverted  by  a  portion  of 
the  people — has  had  and  will  continue  to  have  with 
our  increasing  growth  a  most  important  influence 
upon  our  prosperity.  With  a  country  of  such  vast 
territory,  difference  of  production,  interests  and 
habits,  it  would  be  impossible  for  a  central  govern, 
inent  to  legislate  satisfactorily  for  the  local  require 
ments  of  the  several  sections.  But  with  this  reser 
vation  of  authority  in  the  States  to  control  their  do 
mestic  institutions  and  to  legislate  for  their  local 
purposes,  a  most  important  security  is  aiforded 
against  the  conflict  of  interests  which  must  otherwise 
result  from  the  future  increase  of  territory  and  pop 
ulation. 

By  this  system  each  State  through  its  Legislature 
controls  and  provides  for  its  own  peculiar  interests, 
and  the  General  Government,  representing  the  unity 
of  the  States,  acts  as  a  powerful  guardian  to  pro 
tect  them  in  their  progress,  to  decide  upon  their 


ADDRESS  A  T  SALEM.  5 1 

conflicting  relations,  and  to  accomplish  for  the  gen. 
eral  good  what  it  would  be  impossible  for  the  State 
authorities  to  effect  by  their  separate  legislation. 
This  system  of  government,  embodied  in  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  was  proposed  by  the 
Convention  to  the  people  of  the  several  States  for 
ratification  or  rejection.  Conventions  were  held  in 
the  different  States ;  and  finally,  after  a  full  discus 
sion,  and  with  a  clear  understanding  of  its  various 
provisions,  it  was  adopted  by  the  people  of  every 
State.  George  Washington  was  chosen  the  first 
President  under  the  Constitution.  The  wheels  of 
government  were  set  in  motion,  and  the  great  ex 
periment,  as  it  was  called,  was  put  to  the  test  of 
practical  operation.  'The  effect  upon  the  country 
was  at  once  seen  and  felt.  Treaties  with  foreign 
powers  were  made,  commerce  increased  with  won 
derful  rapidity,  manufactures  sprung  up  and  agri 
culture  was  stimulated.  A  national  credit  was  es 
tablished  ;  and,  by  the  close  of  Washington's  admin 
istration,  we  were  on  the  high  road  to  greatness  and 
prosperity. 

We  have  lived  under  this  Constitution  for  more 
than  seventy  years.  We  have,  under  its  wonderful 
and  beneficient  operations,  achieved  prosperity  and 
success  unparalleled  in  the  history  of  the  world.  The 
ordinary  tests  of  the  strength  of  a  government  have 
been  applied.  Difficulties  and  disputes  between 
different  States  have  been  adjusted,  civil  distarban- 


52  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

ces  quieted,  and  the  trials  and  exactions  of  wars 
with  foreign  powers  successfully  met.  We  have 
come  out  of  all  with  renewed  strength.  We  have 
laid  deep  and  strong  the  foundations  of  literary  and 
religious  institutions.  In  material  prosperity  we 
have  made  almost  incredible  strides.  Our  commerce 
whitens  every  sea.  The  stars  and  stripes,  the  em 
blem  of  our  national  honor  and  power,  wave  in  every 
port.  Our  manufactures,  with  a  high  price  for 
labor,  compete  successfully  in  every  market,  and,  en 
couraged  by  them  and  by  the  wants  of  the  world, 
our  agriculture  has  increased  a  thousand  fold. 

All  this  success  has  been  attained  by  this  great 
people  under  the  Government  arid  in  the  Union  as 
established  by  the  fathers .  From  the  childhood  of 
the  most  aged  amongst  us,  until  within  a  recent  pe 
riod,  their  continued  permanency  has  never  been 
reasonably  doubted.  But  within  this  period,  diffi 
culties  and  dangers  beyond  the  anticipations  of  any 
one  have  been  upon  us.  From  the  heights  of  pros 
perity  and  from  the  enjoyment  of  a  long-continued 
peace,  we  have  been  precipitated  into  a  conflict  of 
such  colossal  proportions  as  to  threaten  the  very 
existence  of  the  Government  and  the  Union. 

This  conflict  has  been  waged  with  unremitted 
zeal.  It  has  called  to  the  field  in  defence  of  the 
Government  over  one-half  million  of  our  fellow  cit 
izens.  Through  their  heroic  efforts,  and  the  wisdom 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  53 

and  prudence  of  the  Federal  Administration  we  have 
reason  to  hope  that  the  crisis  of  rebellion  will  soon 
be  passed ;  and  that  the  time  is  approaching  when 
from  the  carnage  of  the  battle-field  and  the  excite- 
ments  of  the  strife  of  armies,  we  shall  be  called  upon 
to  review  the  ground  over  which  the  tornado  has 
swept,  and  to  consider  great  and  important  questions 
— upon  the  correct  decision  of  which  as  much  as  up 
on  the  success  of  our  armies,  will  depend  the  fu 
ture  continuance  of  our  beloved  Union. 

These  questions  deserve  your  most  careful  and  im 
partial  consideration.  At  this  time,  when  events 
are  so  fast  crowding  upon  us,  we  cannot  determine 
the  entire  and  inevitable  policy  of  the  future.  But 
there  are  certain  great  truths  and  important  general 
principles,  which,  properly  understood  and  appre 
ciated,  will  serve  to  guide  us  in  judging  of  our  duties 
hereafter.  To  a  brief  consideration  of  some  of 
them  I  would  earnestly  urge  your  attention.  In  re 
ferring  to  them,  I  do  not  propose  to  appeal  to  pas- 
sion  or  prejudice.  They  are  never  safe  guides  to 
duty,  and  are  always  dangerous  in  times  of  great 
popular  excitements.  I  wish  to  address  myself  to 
your  calm  reason  and  judgment.  These  must  be 
our  counsellors,  if  we  would  save  our  country  from 
the  perils  that  threaten  it. 

In  judging  of  our  duties  as  circumstances  shall  be 
developed,  it  is  of  primary  importance  that  we  un 
derstand  clearly,  appreciate  fully,  and  keep  con- 


54  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

stantly  before  us,  the  great  object  to  be  attained — 
that  object  is  the  preservation  and  continuance  of  the 
Constitution  and  the  Union. 

This  conflict  must  result  in  the  supremacy  of  the 
Union  or  in  the  overthrow  of  it.  It  will  be  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  fathers,  or  another  government  or 
governments  to  be  hereafter  established.  It  will  be 
the  Constitution  and  the  Union  in  their  integrity,  or 
the  Constitution  and  the  Union  in  ruins. 

Let  us  not  be  deceived — let  us  not  deceive  our 
selves.  The  Constitution  is  the  fundamental  law 
which  is  to  govern  and  control  us.  From  it  the  gov 
ernment  and  the  Union  have  their  legal  existence* 
It  confers  rights  and  privileges,  and  imposes  duties 
and  obligations.  The  former  must  be  fairly  per 
mitted,  and  the  latter  fairly  performed,  or  the  Con 
stitution  is  inoperative.  If  the  performance  of  these 
duties  and  obligations  is  successfully  resisted  by  the 
people  of  any  State  or  section,  a  revolution  in  that 
State  or  section  is  achieved ;  and  the  natural  ten 
dency  is  to  extend  revolution  to  other  States  and 
sections  until  the  prestige  and  authority  of  the  gov 
ernment  will  have  become  extinct.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  General  Government,  in  obedience  to  the 
demands  of  the  majority,  shall  proceed  to  deprive  the 
people  of  any  State  or  section  of  their  rights  and  • 
privileges  under  the  Constitution,  except  so  far  as 
the  necessities  of  the  government  may  require,  for 
its  preservation,  their  temporary  supension  or  abridge' 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  55 

ment,  it  will  be  a  usurpation  of  power,  revolutionary, 
and  destructive  of  the  Constitution. 

The  Government  and  the  Union  can  only  ex 
ist  and  be  respected  by  a  strict  adherence  to  the 
Constitution.  We  must  be  guided  by  it,  if  we  hope 
for  peace,  safety  and  union  hereafter.  It  will  sur 
vive  the  present  conflict  invested  with  increased 
strength  and  authority,  or  it  will  suffer  wounds 
which  will  sooner  or  later  prove  mortal. 

If  we  favor  reconstruction,  that  presupposes  dis 
solution.  If  we  would  proclaim  universal  emanci 
pation  of  slaves  in  the  States,  we  can  only  do  it  by 
trampling  upon  the  Constitution,  which  leaves  the 
entire  and  exclusive  control  of  the  subject  to  the 
respective  States.  If  we  determine  to  conquer,  and 
hold  as  subjugated,  the  people  of  great  States  or 
sections,  we  can  find  no  authority  in  the  letter  or 
spirit  of  the  Constitution  for  the  act. 

The  exercise  of  powers  indispensable  for  the  main 
tenance  of  the  Government,  in  the  absence  of  pre 
scribed  law,  is  not  in  violation  of  the  Constitution. 
In  a  case  like  the  present  it  is  made  the  duty  of  the 
President,  by  the  Constitution,  to  suppress  rebellion ; 
the  means  were  in  his  hands,  and  it  was  incumbent 
on  him  to  employ  those  means  honestly  and  fairly,  for 
the  purpose  of  such  suppression.  The  right  and 
duty  are  based  upon  the  clearly  recognized  law  of 
self-preservation.  Yet  this  law  has  well  defined 
imits.  The  employment  of  the  means  is  limited  by 


56  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

the  necessity.  Although  it  imposes  upon  the  Presi 
dent  the  duty  of  employing  such  power  as  shall  be 
sufficient  to  meet  the  necessity — or,  in  the  words  of 
President  Lincoln,  "inevitable  necessity" — yet  it 
forbids  his  using  more  than  is  necessary,  or  prevert- 
ing  the  power  for  any  other  purpose.  It  imposes 
upon  the  head  of  the  nation  the  exercise  of  the  high 
est  discretion ;  and  he  undertakes,  with  no  written 
law  to  guide  him,  a  most  responsible  duty,  when  he 
employs  the  means  in  his  hands  for  the  suppression 
of  a  rebellion  threatening  the  existence  of  the  Gov 
ernment  ;  and  he  would  be  guilty  of  the  grossest 
wrong,  if,  under  the  pretext  of  necessity,  he  should 
invoke  powers  not  indispensable,  or  means  for  other 
objects  not  required  by  the  exigency.  The  greater 
the  discretionary  power,  the  greater  the  responsibility 
that  exists  for  a  proper  and  prudent  application  and 
employment  of  it. 

And  it  is  to  us  a  cause  of  great  satisfaction  that 
the  Chief  Executive  of  the  Union,  in  the  trying  and 
perplexing  emergencies  in  which  the  Government  has 
been  placed,  has  exhibited  such  patriotism,  sound 
wisdom  and  discretion  in  the  exercise  of  this  power, 
as  to  meet  the  approval  of  all  loyal  citizens. 

Believing,  then,  that  all  true  patriots  concur  in 
the  conviction  that  the  great  object  of  our  efforts  is 
the  maintenance  of  the  Constitution  inviolate,  it  be 
comes  our  duty  to  do  everything  consistent  with 
honor  to  promote  that  object.  To  this  end,  we  must 


A  DDRESS'A  T  SALEM.  57 

at  all  sacrifices  put  down  armed  rebellion.  We 
must  scatter  the  armies  of  the  rebels,  and  satisfy  the 
people  of  the  rebellious  States  that  the  power  of  the 
General  Government,  wherever  restored,  will  be  for 
ever  after  maintained.  This  being  done, our  next  duty 
is  to  secure  obedience  to  the  government  by  a  willing 
people.  The  first  is  to  be  effected  through  the  in 
strumentality  of  the  army  and  navy ;  and  the  next 
through  the  instrumentality  of  the  people.  For  the 
successful  accomplishment  of  both,  it  is  necessary 
that  it  be  distinctly  understood  what  the  policy  of 
the  Government  will  be  towards  those  who  have  re 
belled  against  its  authority. 

If  it  shall  be  proclaimed  that  the  purpose  of  the 
Government  is  to  hold  the  so-called  seceded  States 
as  subjugated  and  tributary  provinces ;  or  that  the 
masses  of  the  people,  upon  the  acknowledgement  of 
their  errors,  are  to  be  stripped  of  their  property 
and  to  forfeit  their  rights  under  the  Constitution, 
we  cannot  hope  for  a  speedy  termination  of  the  war. 
We  may  have  success  on  the  battle-field,  but  we  can 
not  conquer  a  peace.  History  should  teach  us  the 
Herculean  task  a  government  undertakes,  which 
would  hold,  impoverished  and  disfranchised,  a  pop 
ulation  so  large  as  that  of  the  South,  and  occupying 
such  a  vast  extent  of  territory. 

The  practical  difficulties  of  such  a  course,  even  if 
such  were  within  our  rightful  discretion,  should  be 
sufficient  to  compel  us  to  reflection,  without  consid- 


58  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

ering  further  its  inconsistency  with  the  great  princi 
ples  of  equality,  upon  which  our  institutions  are 
based. 

The  necessity  which  exists  for  the  temporary  ex 
ercise  of  authority  by  officers  appointed  by  the  Pres 
ident,  in  States  from  which  the  armies  of  the  rebels 
have  been  expelled,  does  not  conflict  with  these 
views.  These  officers  are  not  placed  in  authority 
for  the  purpose  of  compelling  the  people  to  submit  to 
deprivations  of  their  rights  and  property,  but  as 
substitutes  for  the  civil  authorities  who  have  abdica 
ted,  and  for  the  purpose  of  maintaining  the  laws  and 
protecting  the  rights  and  property  of  the  people,  un 
til  they  shall  elect  loyal  rulers  to  take  their  places. 

A  government  of  a  civilized  people  can  only  hope 
for  a  return  of  its  rebellious  citizens  to  loyalty, 
obedience  and  respect,  through  the  adoption  of  a 
lenient  and  forgiving  policy  toward  the  masses. 
This  is  not  only  a  political  necessity,  but  consistent 
with  that  charitable  and  merciful  spirit  which  should 
ever  animate  a  civilized  and  Christian  government. 
Upon  this  all  publicists  agree.  It  is  the  policy  laid 
down  by  the  law  of  nations.  The  force  of  this  law 
has  been  incidentally  stated  by  one  of  our  Senators 
in  Congress,  in  the  discussion  of  another  topic;  he 
says  international  law,  "when  justly  and  authorita 
tively  settled,  becomes  a  safeguard  of  peace  and  a 
landmark  of  civilization.  It  constitutes  a  part  of 
that  code  which  is  the  supreme  law,  above  all  mu- 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  59 

nicipal  laws,  binding  the  whole  commonwealth  of 
nations." 

Vattel,  in  his  great  work  upon  international  law, 
says :  "Subjects  rising  against  their  prince  without 
cause  deserve  severe  punishments ;  yet  here  the  num 
ber  of  delinquents  calls  for  the  sovereign's  clemency. 
Shall  he  depopulate  a  city  or  desolate  a  province  in 
punishing  their  rebellion?  Such  a  chastisement, 
however  just  in  itself,  becomes  a  cruelty  when  ex 
tended  to  so  great  a  number  of  persons."  And 
further — "As  for  penalties,  let  them  be  reserved  for 
the  authors  of  the  rebellion,  for  those  incendiaries 
who  incite  the  people  to  revolt." 

If  a  rebellious  people,  when  brought  within  the 
power  of  the  government,  are,  for  their  errors,  to  be 
deprived  of  their  rights,  immunities  and  property, 
they  will  forever  after  entertain  sentiments  of  hos 
tility,  which  will  manifest  themselves  against  the 
government  upon  every  occasion.  They  will  con 
tinually  feel  their  humiliation  and  deprivations,  and 
can  never  be  faithful  citizens.  Whereas,  if  those 
who  have  been  induced  to  commit  wrongs  against 
their  government  are  forgiven  their  offences,  the  mag 
nanimity  of  the  act  operates  to  increase  and  strength 
en  their  returning  sentiments  of  loyalty. 

This  rule,  in  its  policy  and  mercy,  does  not  extend 
to  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion.  Few  in  number,  the 
authorities  can  deal  with  them  differently.  Their 
crime  is  deeper.  Their  punishment,  upon  conviction 


60  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

under  the  laws  of  the  land,  will  be  a  just  retribution 
to  them,  and  will  afford  an  example  in  the  tuture. 
These  general  principles,  so  necessary  in  their  appli 
cation,  so  wise  and  merciful  in  their  operations,  are 
acknowledged  by  all  as  obligatory  upon  our  govern 
ment. 

But,  with  this  acknowledgement  upon  their  lips, 
there  are  individuals  who  refuse  that  these  princi 
ples  shall  be  applied  to  the  relation  which  exist  be 
tween  the  master  and  his  slaves,  in  the  rebellious 
States.  They  claim  that  the  slaves  of  all  in  rebel 
lion,  of  the  leaders  and  the  masses'  alike,  shall  be 
freed.  This  claim  is  in  direct  violation  of  these 
principles.  If  it  is  necessary  to  a  voluntary  return, 
that  the  masses  shall  be  reinstated  in  their  rights 
under  the  Constitution,  and  that  their  property  shall 
not  be  confiscated,  will  not  such  a  course  as  is  pro 
posed,  absolutely  prevent  their  return?  Can  it 
have  any  other  effect  upon  them  than  to  keep  alive 
feelings  of  enmity  toward  the  Government,  instead 
of  that  respect  and  love  which  is  indispensable  to 
make  them  faithful  citizens  ?  It  is  most  important 
to  understand  the  value  which  they  attach  to  the 
right  of  which  you  would  deprive  them,  to  compre 
hend  the  effect  of  the  act  upon  their  minds.  The 
importance  to  them  is  the  measure  of  its  effect.  The 
right  is  one  they  estimate  of  the  highest  value  ; 
and  there  is  no  right  connected  with  property,  with 
the  strong  feeling  engendered  upon  the  subject,  of 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  61 

which   they  are  more    tenacious    or   sensitive.    I 
believe  that  if  such  an  innovation  upon  the  princi 
ples,  which  it  is  admitted  should  control  the  action 
of  the  Government,  is  adopted,  there  can  be  no  hope 
of  a  voluntary  return.     The  conflict  will  result  in 
successful  revolution,  abject  subjugation  or  utter  ex 
termination.     Those  who  propose  this  course  attempt 
to  justify  it  upon  the  ground  that  it  is  necessary  for 
the  suppression  of  the  rebellion.    But,  as  I  have 
before  stated,  there  must  exist  an  absolute  necessity 
in  order  to  justify  the  use  of  powers  not  prescribed 
by  the  laws.     It  is  not  sufficient  that  a  certain  course, 
or  the  adoption  of  certain  means,  will  aid  in  putting 
down  the  rebellion — that  they  will  strengthen  the 
hands  of  the  government — or  that,  through  their  in 
fluence,  the  conflict  may  be  brought  to  a  speedy  con 
clusion.     There  must  exist  an  inevitable  necessity, 
one   which   the  calm  judgment  of  the   future   will 
acknowledge,  to  justify  the  use  of  any  such  extraor 
dinary  powers.     With  the  immense  numerical  super 
iority  of  our  population,   our  vast  resources,   and 
great  success  in  the   past,  can  it  be  said  that   our 
government  is  now  under  such  a  necessity  for  self- 
preservation,  that  it  must  interfere  with  important 
constitutional  rights  for  its  relief?     And   if  such 
necessity  should  exist,  the  government  must  use  such 
means  only  as  are  useful  and  appropriate  to  meet  it. 
The  fact  that  there  exists  an  exigency  which  cannot 
be  relieved  through  the  means  and  modes  prescribed 


62  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

by  law,  does  not  authorize  the  government  recklessly 
to  interfere  with  rights  irrespective  of  the  effect.  It 
must  be  reasonably  assured  that  a  proposed  course 
will  materially  aid  in  overcoming  the  impending 
necessity,  and  that  it  is  adapted  to  that  end.  The 
President  has  thus  far  seen  no  exigency  which  re 
quired  the  exercise  of  the  proposed  power.  None 
such  exists,  and  there  is  little  reason  to  anticipate 
that  any  will  exist  in  the  future.  If  any  such  neces 
sity  shall  arise,  it  will  result  from  such  a  state  of 
facts  as  to  satisfy  all  reasonable  loyal  men,  both 
North  and  South ;  and  they  will  cheerfully  acquiesce 
in  the  exercise  of  the  necessary  power. 

If  the  Government  is  under  the  necessity  of  em 
ploying  extraordinary  powers,  it  is  very  evident  that, 
under  present  circumstances,  an  attempt  to  free  the 
slaves  of  all  in  rebellion  would  not  aid  the  Govern- 

0 

ment.  A  proclamation  for  the  purpose  could  have 
no  effect  in  advance  of  our  military  power.  It  could 
hardly  secure  the  freedom  of  a  single  slave  who  is 
not  liberated  as  a  necessity,  with  the  progress  of  the 
Federal  army.  For  material  aid,  such  a  proclama 
tion  would  be  but  of  paper  strength.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  such  a  proclamation  would  aggravate 
the  difficulties  to  be  overcome,  and  operate  most  dis- 
asterously  upon  the  great  object  for  which  we  are 
striving.  It  would  encourage  the  masses  in  resist 
ance,  who  have  taken  up  arms  in  the  belief  that  the 
object  of  the  Government  is  to  force  emancipation 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  63 

upon  the  States ;  and  would  dispel  the  ray  of  hope 
from  the  hearts  of  those  in  the  South  who  have 
looked  to  the  eventual  restoration  of  the  Union  for 
relief  from  the  present  reign  of  terror.  And  the 
effect  of  such  a  proclamation,  unless  justified  by  ne 
cessity,  would  operate  most  injuriously  upon  the  peo 
ple  of  Delware,  Maryland,  Missouri  and  Kentucky. 
They  would  see  that  their  rights  are  involved ;  and 
that,  if  the  Goverwnent  should  unjustifiably  interfere 
with  slavery  in  the  rebellious  States,  there  would  be 
but  little  hope  in  the  future  for  security  to  slavery 
in  their  own  States.  These  people  are  entitled  to 
our  highest  consideration.  By  the  patriotic  and 
strenuous  efforts  of  these  men,  those  great  States 
have  been  saved  from  the  vortex  of  secession,  and 
held  true  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union ;  and  a 
large  portion  of  them  are  slaveholders.  It  was 
stated  in  Congress,  by  one  of  the  Representatives 
from  Kentucky,  that  "it  appears  by  the  assessor's 
books  of  that  State,  that  over  eighty  per  cent  of  the 
slaves  there,  are  owned  by  Union  men,  whose  blood 
has  been  shed  upon  every  battle-field  since  Kentucky 
entered  this  war."  Without  the  co-operation  of 
these  States,  we  might  well  despair  of  the  cajise  of 
the  Union  j  and,  with  them,  under  a  wise  policy, 
there  can  be  no  permanent  separation.  Their  in 
terests,  to  a  large  extent,  were  with  the  seceding 
States,  but  their  duty  was  to  the  Government  to 
which  they  owed  allegiance ;  and  they  followed  the 


64  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

path  of  their  duty.  And  they  have  shown  their  loy 
alty  through  their  sufferings.  If  there  are  any  men 
in  the  country  whom  I  especially  honor,  they  are  the 
noble  and  self-sacrificing  patriots  of  the  Border 
States.  Their  homes  have  been  desolated  and  their 
fields  devastated,  but  they  have  stood  firm  by  the 
Constitution.  Their  rights  and  their  interests  should 
be  sacred  to  the  loyal  people  of  the  Union. 

There  is  nothing  connected  with  the  conduct  of 
the  war,  from  which  more  mischievous  results  will 
follow,  than  from  an  unjustifiable  interference  with 
slavery  in  the  States. 

The  effect  of  the  wrongful  exercise  of  power,  up 
on  those  who  are  its  victims,  may  be  illustrated  by 
the  familiar  instance  of  the  action  of  the  civil  au 
thorities  in  staying  the  spread  of  a  conflagration  in 
a  large  city.  If  necessary  for  the  purpose,  the  mu 
nicipal  officers  may  destroy  buildings  in  advance  of 
the  devouring  element.  They  are  justified  from  the 
existence  of  an  overwhelming  necessity;  and  the 
public  cheerfully  acquiesce.  But  if,  instead  of  de 
molishing  buildings  near  to  the  conflagration,  they 
should  destroy  others  at  a  distance  from  the  scene 
of  danger,  and  to  which  there  is  no  apparent  prob 
ability  the  flames  can  extend,  the  act  cannot  be  jus 
tified  ;  and  the  authorities  will  be  amenable.  And  if, 
in  addition,  the  owners  of  the  buildings  entertain  the 
belief,  with  or  without  sufficient  cause,  that  their  de 
struction  had  been  long  desired  by  the  authoritise, 


OF  THE 

"rRSITY 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  65 

for  other  and  distinct  purposes,  they  would  connect 
such  motive  with  the  act,  and  regard  it  as  a  gross 
violation  of  their  rights.  The  fact  that  they  are  de 
stroyed  under  the  mere  pretext  of  necessity,  instead* 
of  diminishing,  will  only  add  to  their  resentment. 

It  is  plain  that,  under  existing  circumstances,  to 
declare  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves  of  all  in  re 
bellion,  could  have  no  other  influence  than  to  prevent 
the  accomplishment  of  our  object — obedience  to  the 
Government  by  a  willing  people. 

It  is  sufficient  for  us  to  provide  for  the  great  exi 
gencies  of  the  present,  with  an  anxious  effort  so  to 
direct  events,  as  to  accomplish  the  great  result,  upon 
the  expediency,  propriety  and  right  of  which,  there 
should  exist  no  difference  of  opinion  among  loyal 
men. 

Another  ground,  upon  which  such  interference 
with  slavery  is  attempted  to  be  justified,  is  that  of 
political  necessity.  The  statement  is,  that  the  Un 
ion  will  not  hereafter  be  safe  if  slavery  is  permitted 
in  the  States.  This  ground  has  no  foundation  upon 
any  possible  legitimate  principle.  Even  if  it  were 
true  that  there  existed  lawfully  under  the  Constitu 
tion,  institutions  and  systems,  from  which  danger 
in  the  future  is  to  be  apprehended,  it  would  give  no 
authority  to  the  people  to  remove  them  by  the  lay 
ing  of  violent  hands  on  the  Constitution.  The  Con 
stitution  provides  for  its  own  amendment,  and  no 
exigencies  of  political  necessity  can  justify  the  ac 


6  6  ADDRESS  A  T  SALEM. 

complishment  of  a  desired  change,  except  through 
the  mode  provided  in  the  instrument  itself.  Such  an 
attempt  would  be  clearly  and  unqualifiedly  revolu 
tionary. 

But  it  may  be  useful  to  look  further,  and  to  en 
quire  if  there  is  any  such  danger  to  our  Government 
in  the  future,  from  the  existence  of  slavery,  as  to  de 
mand  a  change  through  the  mode  established  by  the 
Constitution. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  relation  of  slavery  to  our 
material  prosperity  which  is  dangerous.  The  fact 
that  all  of  the  cotton  and  tobacco  of  the  country  is  cul 
tivated  by  slave  labor  is  not  dangerous  to  the  Gov 
ernment,  and  does  not  injuriously  affect  the  charac 
ter  of  free  labor  upon  other  productions,  in  other 
sections.  The  effect  of  permitting  slave  labor  is 
most  injurious  to  free  labor  in  the  same  State  and 
society,  but  not  beyond  it.  Further,  if  free  labor 
can  control,  in  any  State  in  which  the  great  staples 
now  cultivated  by  slave  labor  are  produced,  free 
labor,  instead  of  being  prejudiced,  will  be  benefitted 
by  the  competition.  Upon  the  same  product,  the 
economy  of  free  labor  will  drive  slave  labor  from  the 
field ;  and  if  a  great  cotton  growing  State,  like  Texas 
for  example,  could  be  converted  to  free  labor — to 
which  its  population  and  events  seem  fast  compelling 
it — the  result  would  be  the  abandonment,  within  no 
great  length  of  time,  of  slave  labor  in  every  Gulf 
State.  It  would  quietly  and  gradually  yield  to  the 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  67 

competition ;  and  the  people  would  find  their  best  in 
terests  subserved  in  the  substitution  of  free  labor. 

The  evils  of  slavery,  the  fathers  of  the  country 
knew  and  felt ;  yet  the  system  was  so  strongly  sus 
tained  by  the  sentiment  of  the  people  in  the  States 
where  it  existed,  that  they  could  not  demand  its 
abandonment  without  thereby  preventing  the  estab. 
lishment  of  the  Uuion.  Although  comparatively 
stronger  then  than  now — as  it  existed  in  a  majority 
of  the  States — they  voluntarily  left  it  where  the  Con 
stitution  found  it — under  the  control  and  to  the 
responsibility  of  the  respective  States,  hoping  that 
circumstances  and  the  highest  interests  of  the  people 
themselves  would,  sooner  or  later,  put  it  in  the  way 
of  ultimate  extinction.  The  people  of  the  North 
have  believed  that,  if  its  extention  into  future 
States  could  be  prohibited,  it  would  gradually  come 
to  a  termination,  and,  upon  the  question  of  such  ex 
tension,  there  has  been  severe  political  strife.  This 
rebellion  has  forever  settled  it  ia  favor  of  freedom. 
All  the  territory  of  the  country  has,  by  a  recent  vote 
of  Congress,  been  forever  dedicated  to  free  labor; 
and  no  future  legislation  or  power  can  wresf  it  from 
the  freemen  who  will  people  it  at  the  close  of  the 
war. 

Congress  has  also,  upon  the  recommendation  of 
the  President,  passed  a  resolve  to  the  effect  that  the 
General  Government  will  render  pecuniary  aid  to 
any  State  which  shall  determine  upon  the  emancipa- 


68  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

tion  of  its  slaves,  and  with  the  march  of  our  armies 
into  the  rebellious  States,  slavery,  from  necessity 
has  received  the  severest  blow. 

These  important  results  have  been  lawfully  achiev 
ed.  They  follow  legitimately  from  the  state  of 
affairs  caused  by  the  rebellion.  Slavery  precipitated, 
by  its  friends,  has  received  a  blow  from  which  it  can 
never  recover.  Events,  more  effectual  than  arbitrary 
and  unauthorized  power  will  gradually  and  peace 
ably,  but  surely  dispose  of  it.  With  these  great 
and  significant  facts  before  our  eyes,  God  save  us 
from  the  suicidal  act  of  precipitating  slavery  and 
the  Union  into  one  common  grave.  Fellow-citizens, 
judge  of  this  carefully.  Be  not  allured  by  the  siren 
song  of  those  who  would  persuade  you  to  seek  by 
rash  and  forcible  means  to  escape  possible  evils,  by 
plunging  into  dangers  from  which  there  can  be  no 
return. 

I  entertain  now,  as  I  have  ever  entertained  the 
clearest  convictions  of  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  I  look 
forward  with  hope  to  the  day  when  it  will  be  peace 
ably  and  wholly  removed  from  our  midst.  But 
strong  as  are  these  convictions  and  earnest  as  are 
these  hopes,  I  have  never  learned  to  weigh  in  the 
balance,  the  importance  of  its  immediate  removal 
against  the  life  of  this  great  Government. 

For  the  restoration  of  the  Union  in  its  integrity, 
there  is  only  one  certain  path.  It  may  lead  over 


ADDRESS    AT  SALEM.  69 

rough  mountains,  across  deep  abysses,  and  by  the 
edge  of  fearful  precipices,  but  it  is  the  only  path  to 
safety  and  peace.  Any  other  course  will  be  revolu 
tionary  and  destructive  of  the  Constitution.  Any 
other  course  must  result  in  a  necessity  for  recon 
struction.  Does  the  word  reconstruction  convey  no 
terror  to  the  American  mind  ?  It  is  not  and  cannot 
be  a  peaceable  and  insensible  transition  from  the 
present  to  the  future  Government. 

Absolute  destruction  must  precede  reconstruction 
and  with  it  must  come  anarchy,  confusion,  fierce 
civil  dissensions  at  home,  and  all  the  long  and  dis 
astrous  train  of  evils  to  which  misguided  and  uncon 
trolled  human  passions  lead.  Twenty  millions  of 
people,  with  diversity  of  interests,  dispositions  and 
political  opinions, — which,  under  our  beneficent  sys 
tem,  have  co-operated  so  harmoniously  that  the 
very  diversity  imparted  additional  strength  and  se 
curity  —  will  be  absolved  from  their  reciprocal  obli 
gations.  Disintegration  will  ensue ;  and  the  people 
will  be  called  upon  to  establish  a  new  government. 
Will  no  conflicts  of  interests  spring  up  ?  Will  there 
be  no  jealousies  between  the  East  and  the  West, 
between  New  England  and  the  great  States  border 
ing  upon  the  seceded  section  ?  Will  there  be  no 
difficulty  in  establishing  a  basis  for  the  payment  of 
the  debt  of  the  old  Government  —  or  the  whole  of 
it  being  due  to  the  East,  will  an  attempt  be  made 
to  repudiate  it?  Will  there  be  no  resentments 


70  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

arising  from  divided  opinions  upon  the  policy  which 
had  made  reconstruction  necessary  ?  Will  there  not 
be  innumerable  causes  and  pretexts  for  variance  ? 
The  real  danger  from  such  a  state  of  things  cannot 
be  exaggerated.  In  our  own  history  we  learn  the 
difficulty  of  establishing  a  government  by  the  people  t 
even  after  a  long  experience  which  satisfied  all  of  its 
necessity.  We  know  with  what  anxiety  the  subject 
was  considered  by  the  people  —  with  what  faithful  - 
ness,  ability  and  patriotism  it  was  discussed  by  the 
£reat  men  of  the  day.  the  length  of  time  required 
to  accomplish  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and 
that  the  fact  of  its  final  adoption  was  regarded  as 
almost  a  miracle. 

The  appeal  of  Alexander  Hamilton  to  the  Ameri 
can  people  in  behalf  of  the   present    Constitution, 
when,  although  it  had  been  adopted  by  seven  of  the 
States,  apprehensions  were  felt  that  it  might  not  be 
by  all  — shows  the  deep  anxiety  that  great  and 
patriotic  statesman  felt  in  the  result.     It  is  in  the 
last  number  of  the  Federalist.     He   said :  "  It  may 
be  in  me  a  defect  of  political  fortitude,  but   I  ac 
knowledge  that  I    cannot  entertain  an  equal  tran- 
quility  with  those  who  affect  to  treat  the  danger  of 
a  longer  continuance  in  our  present  situation   as 
imaginary.     A  nation  without  a  national  government 
is  an  awful  spectacle.     The  establishment  of  a  Con 
stitution,  in  time  of  profound  peace,  by  the  voluntary 
consent  of  a  whole  people,  is  a  prodigy,  to  the   con- 


ADDRESS  A7   SALEM.  71 

templation  of  which  I  look  forward  with  trembling 
anxiety.  In  so  arduous  an  enterprise,  I  can  reconcile 
it  to  no  rules  of  prudence  to  let  go  the  hold  we  now 
have  upon  seven  out  of  the  thirteen  States,  and  after 
having  passed  over  so  considerable  a  part  of  the 
ground,  to  recommence  the  course.  I  dread  the 
more  the  consequences  of  new  attempts,  because  I 
know  that  powerful  individuals,  in  this  and  in  other 
States,  are  enemies  to  a  general  national  government 
in  every  possible  shape." 

These  words  will  apply  with  great  force  to  our 
position  if  we  shall  be  called  upon  to  reconstruct  the 
government ;  and  the  apprehensions  will  be  intensi 
fied  from  the  fact  that  it  is  a  call  to  reconstruct, 
with  the  discouraging  reflection  that  the  new  gov 
ernment  is  to  succeed  the  best  government  which 
ever  existed  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  and  which 
had  been  unnecessarily  and  capriciously  thrown 
away. 

But  the  important  question  remains  to  be  consid 
ered.  Will  the  people  of  the  States  in  rebellion, 
after  the  power  of  the  Government  has  been  suc 
cessfully  manifested,  and  with  the  exercise  of  a 
rightful  policy,  voluntarily  return  to  their  allegiance  ? 

Our  expectations  upon  this  question  will  be  mate 
rially  affected  by  an  understanding  of  the  causes  of 
the  rebellion.  If  an  intelligent  people  have  taken 
up  anus  against  their  G-overnnient  to  effect  a  revo 
lution  from  an  adequate  cause,  it  is  useless  to  hope 


72  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

for  their  return  to  loyalty,  until  that  cause  has  been 
removed  by  the  Government.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
a  revolt  has  been  instigated  and  overt  acts  of  rebel 
lion  committed,  without  an  adequate  cause,  we  may 
reasonably  hope  for  a  return  to  loyalty  when,  after 
failure  of  armed  resistance,  time  has  been  given  for 
calm  reflection.  The  slaveholders  and  the  non-slave- 
holding  whites,  who  took  an  early  and  active  part 
in  the  rebellion,  were  governed  by  the  belief  that 
the  National  Administration  had  determined  to 
pervert  the  powers  of  the  government  to  compel 
emancipation  of  slaves  in  the  States.  The  slave 
holders  were  induced  to  action  for  the  protection  of 
their  material  interests;  and  the  non-slaveholding 
population,  which  constituted  by  far  the  larger 
portion,  from  dislike  of  the  negro,  and  a  belief  that 
he  was  to  be  emancipated  and  placed  on  an  equality 
with  themselves.  These  opinions  were  strengthened 
through  the  incendiary  eloquence  of  their  political 
leaders,  upon  whom  the  people  of  the  South  have 
ever  placed  great  reliance. 

Without  this  belief,  these  various  classes  could 
not  have  been  induced  to  the  course  they  adopted. 
History  teaches  us  that  masses  of  men  are  not  easily 
moved  to  take  up  arms  against  their  government  j 
and,  in  the  words  of  the  Declaration  of  Indepen 
dence,  which  have  just  been  read,  "all  experience, 
hath  shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to 
suffer,while  evils  are  sufferable,  than  to  right  them- 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  73 

selves  by  abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  were 
accustomed.  " 

They  may  have  acted  upon  a  mistaken  belief. 
But  as  a  motive  to  action,  a  mistaken  conviction  of 
the  existence  of  a  fact  is  as  influential  as  if  the  fact 
itself  existed. 

I  believe  it  is  true  thair  a  majority  of  the  people 
in  most,  if  riot  all  of  the  rebellious  States,  even  to 
the  hour  of  the  passage  of  their  acts  of  secession, 
were  loyal;  and  that  a  large  portion  of  them  were 
the  land-holders.  And  I  believe  it  is  also  true  that 
a  very  large  portion  of  them  have  since,  more  or 
less  actively,  sustained  the  rebellion.  The  reasons 
and  motives  which  affected  this  change  well  deserve 
our  consideration.  A  portion  of  this  class  sincerely 
believed  in  the  doctrine  that  a  State  has  a  right  to 
secede ;  and  although  they  preferred  that  the  Union 
should  be  maintained,  yet  they  felt  bound  by  the 
action  of  their  State,  and  believed  that  it  was  their 
duty  to  support  it,  even  against  their  individual 
convictions  of  its  inexpediency. 

Another  portion,  with  the  same  preferences,  be 
lieved  that  from  what  had  been  accomplished  a  sepa 
ration  of  the  States  was  inevitable ;  and,  with  this 
conviction,  they  deemed  that  the  general  good  of  all 
would  be  best  promoted  by  its  speedy  accomplish 
ment.  They  saw  the  utter  futility,  in  their  position, 
of  making  any  attempt  to  resist  the  storm  of  re 
bellion  j  and  concluded  that  a  dissolution  of  the 


I 

I 


74  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

Union  and  the  chances  of  establishing  new  govern 
ments,  were  to  be  preferred  to  fierce  and  lasting  civil 
dissensions  at  home.  May  we  not  be  too  censorious 
in  judging  of  the  decisions  and  acts  of  these  men  ? 
We  must  remember  the  position  in  which  they  were 
placed,  the  fact  that  the  entire  power  of  their  own 
States,  and  of  neighboring  States,  was  exerted  in 
favor  of  revolution ;  and  that  all  interference  of  the 
general  Government  was  forcibly  and  effectually  ex 
cluded. 

Another  portion  was  undoubtedly  compelled  to 
u  decision  through  fear.  The  acts  of  confiscation 
and  other  stringent  laws  enacted  against  the  prop 
erty  and  persons  of  those  who  should  oppose  the 
revolutionary  policy,  forced  them  to  compliance. 

Those  who  enlisted  in  the  cause  of  rebellion  from 
other  motives  than  the  wish  to  break  up  the  Union, 
may  be  more  readily  won  back  to  allegiance.  They 
will  see,  with  the  advance  of  our  victorious  armies 
that  they  have  acted  upon  erroneous  views,  and  with 
mistaken  opinions  of  the  result.  May  we  aot  rea 
sonably  hope  to  see  the  day  when  they  will  rejoice 
with  us  in  the  accomplished  salvation  of  our  com 
mon  country  ? 

All  this  is  not  the  work  of  a  day.  It  will  call 
for  time,  patience,  perseverance,  labor.  But,  if,  in 
the  end,  through  the  dark  shadows  which  surround 
us  we  can  see  peace  and  safety,  and  a  strengthened 
and  confirmed  Union,  it  will  be  to  us  all  a  sufficient 


ADDRESS  AT  SALEM.  75 

reward  for  our  efforts. 

God  disciplines  nations  as  he  does  individuals. 
It  is  only  through  trials,  temptations  and  dangers 
that  we  are  strengthened  and  exalted.  May  it  not 
be  that,  in  His  infinite  wisdom,  He  has  sent  this 
sore  trial  upon  us  to  discipline  our  hearts,  to  chasten 
our  pride,  to  test  our  patience  and  forbearance,  to 
increase  our  faith  and  hope  — *  and  above  all,  to. 
manifest  to  the  people  of  this  great  nation  His  infi 
nite  power. 

But,  fellow  citizens,  time  admonishes  me  that  I 
may  weary  your  patience.  Appreciating,  as  I  humbly 
trust,  somewhat,  the  magnitude  of  the  dangers 
which  threaten  our  beloved  country,  and  feeling  as 
L  do  the  conviction,  that  unless  the  American  mind 
shall  be  inspired  with  prudence  and  wisdom,  the 
return  of  this  day  may  witness  a  permanently  divi 
ded  union  and  a  distracted  people  —  that  within 
that  brief  period  this  great  Government,  set  as  a 
light  to  the  world,  may  be  extinguished  forever  -—  I 
cannot  close  without  solemnly  adjuring  each  citizen 
within  the  sound  of  my  voice,  to  enquire  anxiously 
for  himself  what  course  he  can  pursue  which  will  best 
subserve  the  maintenance  of  the  Constitution  and 
the  restoration  of  the  Union,  in  the  preservation 
and  integrity  of  which  are  centred  all  our  precious 
hopes  of  the  future. 

Divest  your  minds  of  the  passions  and  resent 
ments  of  the  time.  It  is  no  easy  task.  Bury  with 


76  ADDRESS  AT  SALEM. 

the  dead  all  party  ambition  and  jealousies.  The 
spirit  of  party  is  now  a  genius  of  evil.  Look  only 
at  your  bleeding  country,  that  you  may  be  animated 
with  the  single  purpose  of  saving  it  from  its  perils. 
The  people  of  this  country  can  save  it.  What  no 
bler  cause  can  engage  your  efforts  ?  It  is  above 
every  other  earthly  consideration.  Pride  and  sel 
fishness  should  bow  before  the  awful  majesty  of  the 
occasion.  What  is  the  temporary  success  or  pro 
motion  of  an  individual  compared  with  his  interest 
and  that  of  his  children  in  the  perpetuation  of 
American  'institutions.  Learn  a  lesson  from  the  no 
ble  men  who  are  fighting  our  battles.  They  count 
their  lives  as  nothing  for  the  protection  of  the  Gov 
ernment.  Can  we  not,  emulating  their  spirit,  yield 
something?  Can  we  not  cast  prejudice  and  passion 
a  burning  and  acceptable  sacrifice,  upon  the  altar  of 
our  country  ? 

Fellow-citizens,  great  is  the  responsibility  which 
rests  upon  us  of  this  generation.  To  our  wisdom, 
reason  and  patriotism  has  Providence  submitted  the 
question  of  the  future  existence  of  the  great  Amer 
ican  system,  for  a  final  decision.  The  life  of  this 
great  nation  is  in  the  hands  of  the  people.  Will 
you  save  it  ?  I  appeal  to  your  dearest  and  highest 
interests.  I  appeal  to  you  in  behalf  of  the  millions 
in  other  lands,  who  are  looking  with  the  intensest, 
interest  upon  the  fortunes  of  this  great  struggle.  I 
call  upon  you,  in  behalf  of  a  great  posterity,  to  rige 


ADDRESS  AT   SALEM.'  77 

to  the  terrible  importance  of  the  hour. 

I  beseech  of  you  all  to  determine  that,  God  help 
ing,  you  will,  under  the  guidance  of  the  great  and 

glorious  principles  of  the  Civil  and   Christian  law, 

do  what  you  can  to  bring  back  to  a  common  love 
and  allegiance,  this  great  and  unhappy  people. 


SPEECH     AT     BOSTON.* 


The  excitements  of  the  annual  canvass  have  passed 
with  the  election,  and  it  is  now  a  peculiarly  fitting 
time  to  consider  dispassionately  the  actual  condition 
and  exigencies  of  the  country,  and  to  counsel  to 
gether  upon  our  duties  in  the  great  and  momentous 
future.  The  country  has  been  now  for  nearly  three 
years  contending  with  a  colossal  rebellion.  The 
sacrifice  of  blood  and  treasure,  and  the  destruction 
of  resources  in  this  struggle,  are  almost,  if  not  entire 
ly,  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  the  civilized 
world.  Within  that  brief  period  of  time  we  have 
sent  to  the  field  of  carnage  nearly  one  and  a  half 
million  of  our  chosen  youth,  a  majority  of  whom  to 
day  lie  buried  beneath  the  soil  of  distant  battle 
fields,  languish  in  hospitals,  or  are  returned,  enfee 
bled  and  incapacitated  for  labor. 

We  have  expended  nearly  two  thousand  millions 
of  dollars  of  treasure.  A  large  portion  of  the 
country  has  been  swept  as  by  the  besom  of  destruc- 

*  Delivered  before  the  Constitutional  Democratic  Club,  Boston, 
November  4,    1863. 


SPEECH   AT  BOSTON.  79 

tion.  Whole  States  almost  have  been  devastated. 
Business,  even  in  the  most  prosperous  portion  of  the 
country,  has  been  forced  from  its  natural  channels, 
and  turned  principally  to  provide  for  the  necessities 
occasioned  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  and  has 
been  feeding  on  the  credit  of  the  country,  for  the 
support  of  which  the  labor  and  energies  of  the  peo 
ple  must  be  taxed  for  generations  to  come — and 
the  end  is  not  yet. 

This  state  of  affairs  calls  for  the  most  anxious 
and  careful  consideration,  and  a  most  thorough  and 
impartial  discussion  of  the  various  important  ques 
tions  connected  with  the  struggle,  to  the  end  that 
the  people  may  concur  in,  and  require  the  adoption 
of  such  measures  as  will  accomplish  the  settlement 
of  our  National  difficulties,  and  a  return  of  the  bles 
sings  of  peace,  within  some  appreciable  period. 
.  It  is  our  duty,  in  considering  these  great  and  im 
portant  questions,  to  discard,  so  far  as  we  may  be 
able,  all  passion,  animosity  and  partizan  bitterness, 
and  to  appeal  to  the  judgment  and  the  reason  alone. 
True  patriots  can  now  look  only  to  the  interests  of 
the  country.  All  mere  party  considerations  are  but 
dust  in  the  balance,  when  compared  with  the  gigan 
tic  issues  in  which  are  involved  the  life  and  the  death 
of  the  Union.  Under  our  institutions  the  people 
can  only  unite  in  the  expression  of  their  opinions 
upon  these  great  issues  through  political  organiza 
tions,  and  it  is  for  this  purpose  now  that  they  are 


80  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

or  should  be,  of  any  value.      The  object  of  the  peo 
ple  in  support  of  the  Government  is  to  restore  our 
country,  so  far  as  it  may  be  done,  to  its  former  con 
dition,  through  the  suppression  of  the  force  which  is 
employed  against  it,  and  by  allaying  the  animosities 
which  have  for  the  time  estranged  and  divided  the 
people  of  the  country.     It  is  indispensable  that  both 
these  purposes  be  accomplished,  if  the  Constitution 
is  to  be  continued  and  the  Union  restored.     These 
results  can  be  accomplished  only  through  the  adop 
tion  and  execution  of  a  wise,  comprehensive  and  pat 
riotic  policy.      Abstract  dogmas,  speculative   theo 
ries,  partizan  intensity  and  zeal,  cannot  compass  this 
end.     It  must  be  effected,  if  at  all,  through  policy, 
through  the  employment  of  such  means,  compatable 
with  law  and  honor,  as  shall  under  the  circumstan 
ces  be  best  adapted  for  the  accomplishment  of  the 
desired  result.     What  we  can  honorably  and  legit 
imately  do,  that  will  most  effectually  and  speedily 
suppress  the  force  opposed  to  the  government  and 
restore  the  lost  affections  of  the  people,  it  is  our  first 
and    highest    duty     to    do.     No    great  rebellion 
was  ever  undertaken,  that  did  not  originate  either 
in  the  oppression  of  the  government,  or  in  imagin 
ary  grievances,  believed  to  be  real  by  the  masses  of 
those  who  rebelled.     No  such  rebellion  as  we  are 
called  upon  to  meet  was  ever  undertaken  and  perse 
vered  in  with  such  an  intensity  by  any  civilized  peo 
ple,  through  mere  recklessness,  or  the  influence  of 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  81 

ambitious  leaders  alone.  It  is  our  duty,  then,  to 
look  for  the  cause  of  the  rebellion,  for  that  which 
has  given  strength  and  vitality  to  the  force  employ 
ed.  If  we  shall  find  that  any  actual  grievance  was 
the  cause  of  the  insurrection,  then  it  is  our  duty,  in 
accordance  with  the  policy  pursued  by  civilized  na 
tions,  to  relieve  it;  and  if  the  grievance  is  only 
imaginary  —  "  a  phantom,  "  the  same  policy  demands 
of  us  that  we  should  attempt  to  remove  and  dispel 
the  delusion.  This  is  necessary,  not  only  to  regain 
the  confidence  and  affections  of  the  people  in  the  end, 
but  indispensable  for  the  purpose  of  so  weakening 
the  strength  of  the  force  which  sustains  the  rebel 
lion,  that  it  may  be  overcome  by  the  government. 

A.  people  thoroughly  united  in  support  of  a  rebel 
lion,  can  never  be  conquered  and  made  obedient  and 
faithful  subjects  or  citizens,  through  the  application 
of  force  alone;  and  so  long  as  force  is  employed 
against  a  united  people,  without  conciliation,  it  will 
fail  of  its  object,  and  tend  only  to  confirm  the  inten 
sity  of  the  spirit  of  resistance. 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  rebellion  was  per 
fectly  well  understood  by  the  President,  by  Congress 
and  by  the  people,  at  the  time  of  the  breaking  out 
of  the  war.  The  subject  had  been  for  months  dis 
cussed  in  Congress  and  before  the  people,  and  there1 
was  no  misconception  or  misunderstanding  in  regard 
to  it.  The  President  appreciating  it  fully,  expressed 
it  in  clear  and  emphatic  language  in  his  inaugural 


82  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

message,  March  4,  1861.     He  said: 

"Apprehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of 
the  Southern  States,  that  by  the  awossion  of  a  Re 
publican  Administration,  their  property,  their  peace, 
and  their  personal  S33iirifcy  are  to  be  endangered." 

This  was  the  SD!C  immediate  cause  of  the  disturbed 
feeling  that  agitated  the  South  and  ominously  threat 
ened  the  pease  and  ths  integrity  of  th?  country.  It 
was  not  the  power  of  leaders,  it  was  not  reckless 
ness  in  the  people,  it  was  not  a  spirit  of  aggression 
on  the  part  of  the  South  that  endangered  the  peace 
of  the  country,  but  an  apprehension  —  a  real  actual 
fear  among  the  people  of  the  South,  that  the  new 
Administration,  based  upon  principles  antagonistic 
to  their  institutions,  controlled  by  men  who  had  de 
clared  a  purpose  to  illegally  interfere  with  the  rights 
of  the  people  of  the  Southern  States,  and  succeeding 
to  power  by  a  purely  sectional  vote,  intended  to 
strike  at  their  property,  their  peace  and  their  per 
sonal  security.  This  every  man  in  the  country  knew 
was  the  sole  immediate  cause  from  which  the  peace 
of  the  country  was  endangered,  and  every  man  felt 
that  if  this  apprehension  could  be  relieved,  the  coun 
try  would  be  composed.  Conservative  men  of  both 
sections  made  every  effort  to  remove  these  appre 
hensions  and  avert  the  war.  Mr  Crittenden,  a  man 
in  whose  wisdom,  disinterestedness  and  loyalty,  no 
one  doubted,  presented  to  Congress,  early  in  the 
winter,  a  series  of  resolutions  intended  to  remove 


OF  THE 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 


8,Ty  I 

,    r         ,/ 

83 


these  apprehensions.    Jefferson  Davis,  even,  assented 
to  the  statement  of  their  effect,  and  approved  of 
their  passage  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  war  ; 
but  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party  refused  to 
accept  them.     The  cause  was  not  removed,  concil 
iation  was  declined  to  be  offered,  and  war  followed. 
The  President,  in  his  inaugural  message,  proposed 
conciliation.     He  stated  the  aprehensions  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South,  solemnly  affirmed  that  he  had  no 
purpose,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  interfere  with  the 
institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where  it  exists 
and  that  he  had  no  lawful  right  nor  inclination  thus 
to  interfere.     He  referred  to  his  statements  in  the 
past,  the  resolution  of  the  Chicago  platform  on  the 
subject,  and  in  the  strongest  and  most  convincing 
language,  assured  the  people  that  the  property,  peace 
and  security  of  no  section  were  to  be  in  anywise  en 
dangered  by  the  incoming  Administration.     These 
assurances  had  great  influence  upon  a  large  portion 
of  the  people  of  the  South,  but   the  refusal  of  the 
Republicans  in  Congress,  to  pledge  their  party  to 
non-interference,  in  their  refusal  to  pass  the  Critten- 
den  resolutions,  had  already  rendered  it   morally 
certain,  that  open   rupture   could   not   be   avoided. 
Those  men  at  the  South,  who  were  relieved  of  their 
apprehensions  through  the  patriotic  assurances  of  the 
President,  were  sustained  through  the  terrible  pres 
sure  which  the  commencement  of  the  war  brought 
upon  their  whole  section  by  the  hope  that,  through 


84  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

his  wisdom  and  patriotism,  the  rebellion  would  bo 
speedily  suppressed,  and  the  lost  affections  of  the 
people  restored ;  and  the  President  had  the  satisfac 
tion  of  stating  to  Congress,  in  his  message  in  July, 
nearly  three  months  after  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumtef, 
that  "  It  may  well  be  questioned,  whether  there  is 
to-day  a  majority  of  the  legally  qualified  voters  of 
any  State,  except,  perhaps,  South  Carolina  in  favor 
of  disunion.  There  is  much  reason  to  believe  that 
the  Union  men  are  the  majority,  in  many,  if  not  in 
every  one  of  the  so-called  seceded  States/' 

The  effect  of  the  President's  announcement  of  the 
policy  that  would  govern  him,  was  still  more  influen 
tial  upon  the  people  of  the  North.  It  united  the 
whole  people  in  a  most  cordial  and  enthusiastic  sup 
port  of  the  Administration  for  the  vigorous  prosecu- 
ion  of  the  war  against  armed  rebellion,  with  the 
confidence  that  under  a  wise  management,  it  could 
soon  be  suppressed  and  the  Union  restored  to  peace 
through  the  aid  of  the  Unionists  of  the  South.  So 
influential  was  this  sentiment  of  the  people,  that 
Congress,  immediately  after  the  battle  of  Bull  Run, 
passed,  with  almost  entire  unanimity,  the  Crittenden 
resolves.  Under  this  policy,  in  the  winter  and 
spring  following,  successful  efforts  were  made  against 
the  rebellion  in  all  quarters.  The  rebels  themselves 
were  dismayed  at  their  defeats ;  and  the  Union  men 
looked  forward  to  an  early  day  when  they  could 
again  see  the  old  stars  and  stripes  wave  over  their 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  85 

heads.  Richmond  alone  remained  to  be  ta 
ken.  Although  within  our  grasp,  it  was  not  taken, 
and  history  will  not  attribute  the  failure  to  the  want 
of  bravery  in  our  men,  or  of  generalship  in  that 
noble  military  chieftain  who  led  his  forces  unsustain- 
ed,  within  sight  of  the  spires  of  the  Confederate 
capital. 

If  the  administration  had  properly  supported  Gen. 
McClellan,  Richmond  would  have  fallen,  the  back 
bone  of  the  rebellion  would  have  been  broken,  and 
the  Union  restored  through  the  vote  of  a  majority  of 
the  people  of  the  South,  who  had  never  sympathized 
with  the  rebellion. 

But  whilst  our  brave  men  were  fighting  armed  re 
bellion  under  the  declared  policy  of  the  President 
and  Congress,  mischievous  and  zealous  politicians 
were  plotting  the  overthrow  of  the  policy,  and  advo 
cating  an  antagonistic  and  partisan  system  of  opera 
tions  against  the  insurgents.  They  did  not  desire 
reconciliation  through  conciliation,  and  feared  above 
all  things  the  return  of  the  people  of  the  South  to 
allegiance  and  a  participation  in  the  Government,  as 
they  knew  it  would  prove  the  death  knell  to  their 
party  organization.  They  saw  it  was  indispensable 
for  their  future  success  to  repudiate  the  real  cause 
of  the  war,  and  to  attribute  it  to  such  a  cause  as 
would  aid  them  in  their  partisan  designs.  The  the 
ory  they  promulgated  was,  that  the  apprehension  of 
the  people  of  the  South  that  their  peace,  property 


86  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

and  security  would  be  endangered  by  the  new  Ad 
ministration,  did  not  cause  the  national  disturbance, 
but  that  the  existence  of  slavery  was  the  sole  cause 
of  it  —  that  in  itself  slavery  is  such  an  antagonistic 
and  disturbing  element,  that  the  only  solution  of  our 
present  difficulties,  and  our  only  hope  of  peace  in  the 
future,  is  from  the  overthrow  and  extinction  of  it ; 
and  that  consequently,  instead  of  attempting  concil 
iation,  the  war  should  be  directed  to  the  forcible 
overthrow  of  the  system.  This  policy  was  initiated 
by  the  introduction  into  Congress  and  subsequent 
passage  of  the  confiscation  act,  and  finally  adopted 
by  the  President,  September,  1862,  and  under  it, 
substantially,  the  war  has  been  prosecuted  from  that 
time  to  the  present.  The'  destructive  character  of 
this  policy,  and  the  fallacy  on  which  it  is  based,  are 
apparent  to  every  unprejudiced  mind.  Yet,  the  fact 
that  it  has  been  adopted  to  govern  in  the  prosecu 
tion  of  the  war,  and  that  it  is  the  basis  of  the  plat 
form  of  the  Administration  party,  and  accepted  by 
many  without  consideration,  under  the  pressure  of 
partisan  influences,  demands  an  examination  of  it 
which  it  otherwise  would  not  deserve. 

If  it  shall  be  conceded  for  the  moment,  that  the 
authors  of  the  new  policy  are  correct  in  their  state 
ment  that  slavery,  as  it  legally  exists  under  the  Con 
stitution,  was  not  only  the  sole  cause  of  the  war,  but 
that  it  is  intrinsically  so  disturbing  an  element,  that 
so  long  as  it  exists,  this  people  can  never  live  togeth- 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  87 

er  in  the  Union  in  peace,  does  it  legally  or  morally 
justify  their  sequence,  that  therefore,  it  should  be 
forcibly  destroyed,  without  the  consent  of  the  people, 
who,  under  the  Constitution,  have  the  exclusive  con 
trol  of  it  ?   If  their  statement  is  correct,  the  only 
just  and  logical  sequence  is,  that  if  the  people  of  the 
South  cannot  be  induced  voluntarily  to  abandon  it 
then  that  we  should  at  once  consent  to  a  separation 
of  the  Union.     Upon  their  statement   of  facts,  we 
have  no  legal  or  moral  right  to  compel  a  change, 
and  we  assume  a  fearful  responsibility,  if  we  pro 
ceed  to  sacrifice  life,  treasure  and  national  resources 
for  the  accomplishment  of  such  an  unjust  and  illegal 
purpose.     What  would  be  thought  in  a  community, 
of  a  firm  which  should  undertake  by  force  to  pre 
vent  one  of  its  members  from  doing  a  private  busi 
ness,  which   it   was    agreed,   in    the    partnership 
bond  he  might  do,  merely  upon  the  ground  that  the 
strict  exercise  of  the  privilege  operated  more  inju 
riously  and  destructively  upon  the  business  of  the 
firm  than  it  was  anticipated  it  would  when  the  part 
nership  was  created  ?  The  only  remedy  in   such   a 
case  would  be,  if  the  partner 'would  not  voluntarily 
yield  the  privilege,  to  cancel  the  bond  and  dissolve 
the  partnership.    Should  any  other  rule  control  in  a 
government  of  the  people  ? 

If  the  statement  of  the  authors  of  the  new  pol 
icy  is  correct,  I  know  of  no  reason  why  they  should 
not  concur  in  the  demands  of  the  South. 


88  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

But  this  statement  is  not  correct,  and  it  is  per 
haps  not  strange  that  in  a  time  of  such  intense  ex 
citement,  members  of  the  Republican  party  should 
willingly  and  without  examination  accept  a  theory 
in  itself  plausible  but  ill-founded,  which  harmonizes 
with  their  partisan  interests  and  is  consistent  with 
their  party  shibboleth.  Slavery  was  in  no  sense 
the  cause  of  the  war.  The  fact  that  labor  is 
performed  in  one  State  of  the  Union  by  slaves,  and 
in  another  by  free  men,  occasions  no  "  irrepressible 
conflict."  This  the  author  of  the  term  admitted  in 
a  speech  delivered  just  before  the  commencement  of 
the  war.  The  fact  furnishes  no  antagonism  which 
is  destructive  of  the  national  life.  For  one  hundred 
years  before  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  the 
labor  in  one  part  of  the  country  was  performed  by 
slaves,  and  in  another  principally  by  free  men,  and 
no  antagonism  was  produced  or  dreamed  of.  In 
the  convention  which  framed  the  Constitution  there 
were  men  from  both  sections  who  openly  deplored 
the  fact  that  slavery  existed,  and  who  opposed  the 
continuance  of  the  slave  trade,  yet  there  was  not 
one  who  suggested  that  there  was  any  intrinsic  an 
tagonism  in  the  system,  which  could  endanger  the 
government  they  were  creating ;  and  upon  the  test 
question  on  the  subject,  the  provision  for  the  rendi 
tion  of  fugitives,  there  was  not  one  dissenting  vote. 
For  forty  years  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  we  lived  together  in  the  Union,  a  portion  of  the 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  89 

States  slave  and  a  portion  free,  not  only  without 
any  antagonism  exhibiting  itself,  but  without  any 
being  suggested.  The  only  civil  disturbance  of  mag 
nitude  which  has  threatened  us  in  the  past,  was  in 
South  Carolina,  on  the  subject  of  the  tariff  alone.  But 
the  last  thirty  years  has  witnessed  a  great  political 
strife  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  It  commenced 
with  the  organization  of  the  anti-slavery  society  in 
1833.  This  was  formed  not  upon  the  ground  that 
slavery  was  dangerous  to  the  National  Government, 
but  purely  upon  the  moral  questions  arising  out  of 
it.  From  that  time  to  the  present,  able  and  elo 
quent  men  and  women  have  addressed  meetings  in 
every  village  of  the  North,  in  which  they  denounced 
the  people  of  the  South  as  a  barbarous  and  unchris-' 
tian  race,  not  fit  to  be  associated  under  the  same 
government  with  the  people  of  the  North.  Fanati 
cal  philanthropists,  excited  upon  the  subject,  demand 
ed  a  separation  of  the  Union,  and  fanatical  clergymen 
called  for  a  separation  of  the  church.  This  excited 
a  counter  irritation  at  the  South.  The  excitement 
there  was  stronger,  as  it  was  connected  with  their 
most  important  material  interests.  The  inevitable 
result  was  the  rank  growth  of  a  most  bitter  ani 
mosity  and  hatred  between  the  people  of  the  two 
sections.  Demagogues  in  both  sections  turned  the 
excitement  to  their  own  partisan  purposes.  Strin 
gent  legislation  in  South  Carolina  and  other  South 
ern  States  upon  the  subject  of  free  negroes  followed. 


90  SPEECH   AT  BOSTON. 

The  North  retaliated,  and  passed  personal  liberty 
bills,  and  other  acts  of  a  similar  purport.  Hatred 
increased,  and  was  intensified.  It  broke  up  the 
unity  of  the  churches,  destroyed  one  great  national 
party,  and  disorganized  for  the  time  the  other,  and 
at  last  organized  and  gave  success  to  a  purely  sec 
tional  party  organization.  The  people  of  the  South, 
influenced  by  the  spirit  of  hate,  and  excited  by  the 
struggle,  believed  that  this  success  was  the  signal 
for  an  attack  upon  their  constitutional  rights,  and 
the  radicals  of  the  North  refused  to  do  what  was 
indispensable  to  correct  the  apprehension,  and  the 
result  was  war.  Hatred  aggravated  and  intensified 
between  neighbors  finds  cause  or  pretext  for  per 
sonal  conflict,  and  no  people,  under  a  free  govern 
ment  can  long  dwell  together  with  hatred  rankling 
*in  their  hearts,  the  one  portion  against  the  other, 
without  civil  war,  upon  some  misapprehension  or 
pretext. 

The  authors  of  the  new  policy  are  not  only  wrong 
in  their  theory  that  slavery  is  the  cause  of  the  war, 
and  a  destructive  element  in  our  political  system, 
but  the  policy  they  base  on  it  is  entirely  antagonis 
tic  to  the  principles  which  must  govern  us  if  we 
would  restore  the  Union ;  and  if  successfully  accom 
plished  would  furnish  a  fruitful  cause  of  civil  dissen 
sions  in  the  future. 

This  policy  cannot  be  consummated  without  stamp 
ing  the  States,  in  which  it  is  accomplished,  with  hu- 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  91 

miliation.  Their  assertion  is,  that  this  right  —  the 
authority  to  hold  slaves,  is  exercised  by  only  a  mi 
nority  of  the  people  of  the  States  in  rebellion,  con 
trary  to  the  interests,  and  even  wishes  of  the 
majority,  and  that  this  forcible  interference  with 
slavery  will  be  approved  by  the  majority.  In 
reply  to  this,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  this  majority 
can  fairly  be  presumed  to  understand  their  own  in 
terests  better  than  their  philanthropic  neighbors  j 
and  that  if  they  desire,  being  in  the  majority,  to  be 
relieved  of  the  system,  they  can  easily  effect  it  at 
the  ballot-box.  But  further^  and  still  more  impor 
tant,  the  right  to  hold  slaves  is  a  right,  which  al 
though  exercised  only  by  a  minority,  attaches  to  the 
entire  people  of  the  States  where  it  is  permitted, 
and  a  forcible  and  illegal  interference  with  it,  is  an 
insult  to  the  dignity  and  character  of  the  State,  and 
will  be  resented  by  the  whole  people,  independent 
of  their  personal  interest  in  the  privileges  it  grants, 
or  even  of  their  opinion  of  its  utility,  or  of  the  ex 
pediency  of  continuing  the  right. 

If  the  President  or  Congress,  upon  any  pretence, 
should  interfere  with  any  right  of  the  citizens  of 
Massachusetts  under  the  Constitution,  even  if  that 
right  were  unimportant  and  of  insignificant  practi 
cal  value,  would  not  the  act  be  resented  by  the 
whole  people  as  an  insult  and  usurpation?  and 
could  the  people  be  ever  appeased  until  reparation 
was  made  ?  In  the  suppression  of  the  rebellion,  the 


92  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

army  may  appropriate  for  its  use,  or  destroy,  as  the 
necessities  of  the  exigency  shall  require,  any  prop 
erty  of  the  enemy  that  may  be  reached.  This  is  an 
acknowledged  power  incident  to  such  a  contest,  and 
however  much  property  of  the  people  of  the  territo 
ry  occupied  by  the  army  may  be  taken,  in  the  proper 
exercise  of  this  power,  no  cause  of  resentment  will 
be  occasioned  which  will  survive  the  war.  But  .if 
the  Government  shall,  by  force,  annul  a  right  which, 
under  the  Constitution,  is  to  be  perpetual  except 
through  the  consent  of  the  people,  it  will  afford  a 
constant  cause  of  dissatisfaction  and  of  discontent 
in  the  future.  Slaves  that  are  reached,  or  who  shall 
come  within  our  lines,  whilst  the  war  is  being  waged, 
may  be  freed ;  but  the  assertion  that  if,  at  the  close 
of  the  war,  any  slaves  are  not  thus  liberated,  the 
right  of  the  master  to  hold  them  is  annulled  or  can 
be  annulled,  without  the  consent  of  the  people, 
through  a  proclamation  or  other  act  of  the  Pres 
ident,  will  never,  in  the  present  or  in  the  future,  be 
willingly  acquiesced  in  by  the  people  of  the  States 
possessing  the  right. 

If  peace  could  be  restored,  and  the  people  of  the 
States  in  rebellion  be  permitted  to  exercise  all  their 
rights  under  the  Constitution  excepting  this  one, 
could  we  look  for  a  permanent  peace  in  the  future  ? 
Would  not  the  act  itself  humiliate  the  State  in 
which  it  should  be  exercised,  and  would  not  every 
man  in  the  State  feel  the  humiliation  ?  Even  if  we 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  93 

could  so  far  subjugate  the  people  of  the  States  in 
insurrection,  as  to  seize  and  confiscate  a  considerable 
portion  of  their  lands,  and  apportion  them  to  our 
soldiers,  and  they  should  settle  upon  them  and  possess 
them  peaceably,  would  they  be  exempt  from  this  feel 
ing  ?  Would  they  not  become  identified  with  the  inter 
ests  of  the  section  which  was  to  be  the  home  of  them 
selves  and  their  children,  and  within  a  brief  period 
partake  of  and  become  imbued  with  all  its  feelings 
and  prejudices  ?  Would  they  not  soon  learn  to 
resent  the  humiliation  to  which  their  section  had 
been  subjected,  as  strongly  as  those  who  were  born 
upon  its  soil  ?  Would  not  this  new,  and  as  it  is 
claimed,  stronger  and  more  efficient  portion  of  the 
population,  afford  to  the  section  an  increased 
strength  in  future  struggles  to  wipe  out  the  dis 
grace. 

The  theory  of  the  new  policy  points  inevitably  to 
ward  disunion.  Even  if  the  authors  of  it  could 
reach  to  the  visionary  result  which  they  aim  .to  ac 
complish,  it  could  be  done  only  by  planting  the 
seeds  of  eternal  discord.  The  consummation  of  their 
scheme  would  be  the  signal  for  other  and  more  de 
termined  dissensions,  and  destructive  of  the  future 
peace  of  the  country.  The  President  in  adopting 
the  new  policy,  repudiated  the  promises  and  the 
platform  to  which  he  pledged  his  administration  in 
his  inaugural  message.  The  policy  itself  renders 
conciliation  inadmissible,  and  under  it,  notwithstand- 


94  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

ing  the  favorable  opportunities  of  the  past  few 
months,  no  overtures  for  adjustment  have  been 
made. 

Lord  Chatham,  when  measures  of  force  alone  had 
governed  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war  against 
America  for  more  that  two  years,  said  in  the  Brit 
ish  Parliament,  upon  the  proposition  of  an  address 
to  the  throne  upon  the  subject,  "You  cannot  concil 
iate  America  by  your  present  measures.  You  cannot 
subdue  her  by  your  present,  or  by  any  measures." 
And  we  say  to  the  Administration,  you  cannot  con 
ciliate  the  South  by  your  present  measures,  you  can 
not  subdue  her  by  your  present,  or  by  any  measures, 
if  you  persistently  refuse  conciliation.  But  it  is 
said,  it  does  not  comport  with  the  dignity  of  the 
nation  to  proffer  conciliation — that  no  accommoda 
tion  should  be  attempted  with  rebels  in  arms.  So 
thought  the  administration  of  Lord  North,  in  the 
war  of  the  Revolution.  The  war  was  prosecuted 
upon  this  policy  for  nearly  three  years,  when  Par 
liament  interposed,  passed  conciliatory  acts,  under 
which  commissioners  were  sent  to  America  with  full 
instructions  and  authority  to  treat  with  rebels  in 
arms.  The  terms  proposed  were  such  as  America 
would  have  originally  complied  with.  But  the  prof 
fer  came  too  late.  It  came  when,  in  the  words 
of  the  historian  Marshall,  "All  those  affections 
which  parts  of  the  same  empire  should  feel  for  each 
other,  had  been  eradicated  by  a  distressing  war ,- 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  95 

and  the  great  body  of  the  nation  was  determined, 
at  every  sacrifice,  to  maintain  its  independence." 
England  was  not  humiliated  by  the  offer.  She  was 
humbled  only  from  the  fact  that  she  delayed  it  so 
long.  Our  administration  may  well  seek  instruc 
tion  from  this  great  lesson  of  history. 

There  is  nothing  plainer  than  that  this  struggle 
must  result  in  the  restoration  of  the  Union  through 
the  consent,  ultimately  to  be  obtained,  of  the  people 
of  both  sections,  or  in  disunion.     The  first  result 
cannot  be  attained  by  the  sword  alone.     The  griev 
ances  or  apprehension  that  caused  the  war  must  be 
removed.     By  conciliation,  influential  men  of  the 
South  must  be  won  back  to  a  love  for  the  Union, 
and  through  their  co-operatioa  under  such  a  policy 
the  military  power  of  the  rebellion  will  be  weaken 
ed,  with  a  vigorous  effort  it  may  be  overcome,  and 
we  may  reasonably  hope  for  a  return  of  the  masses 
to  loyalty  at  no  distant  period.     Any   other   policy 
must  end  in  separation.     Wild  projects  of  subjuga 
tion  may  be  attempted,  and  prosecuted   under  the 
excitements  of  the  crisis,  to  the   exhaustion  of  the 
people.     They  will  not  only  end  in  disunion,  if  per 
sisted  in,  but  tend  to  prevent  a  permanent  peace 
between  the  new  governments  that  succeed.     The 
hatred  that  will  have  culminated  in  the  separation, 
will  be  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation 
by  both  people,  and  constantly  endanger  their  peace, 
on  the  slightest  pretexts. 


96  SPEECH   AT  BOSTON. 

The  people  of  the  country  should  faithfully  and 
carefully  examine  these  important  subjects,  and  wise 
ly  determine  what  their  highest  duty  to  their  coun 
try  requires  of  them  at  the  present  crisis.  Above 
all,  let  them  not  be  mistaken  in  their  judgment  upon 
the  true  criterion  of  loyalty  and  of  patriotism.  The 
stern  and  inexorable  future  alone  will  decide  impar 
tially  and  correctly  upon  the  events  that  are  now 
transpiring.  If  the  Union  shall  be  restored,  the 
Constitution  preserved  in  the  future,  the  memory  of 
those  who,  amid  perils,  demanded  and  finally  obtain 
ed  the  adoption  of  the  policy  which  secured  them, 
will  be  blessed  through  all  coming  time ;  and  if  on 
the  other  hand,  through  madness  and  fanaticism,  the 
colossal  pillars  of  the  noblest  government  the  world 
has  ever  known  shall  be  pulled  down,  the  Union  dis 
solved  and  the  government  destroyed,  the  descen 
dants  of  this  great  people,  amid  their  execrations 
against  the  authors  of  this  terrible  calamity,  will  re  - 
member  with  gratitude  and  admiration  those  men 
who,  amid  the  pitiless  peltings  of  the  storm,  stood 
true  to  the  Constitution  and  the  Union.  The  Ad 
ministration  that  persisted  in  the  attempt  to  conquer 
the  rebellion  in  America  by  the  sword  alone,  stands 
to-day  condemned  before  England  and  the  world, 
whilst  Chatham  and  Burke  and  the  other  noble 
statesmen  who  understood  and  defended  the  true 
policy  and  interests  of  the  nation  against  the  pas 
sions  of  an  excited  majority,  are  known  and  believed 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  97 

by  all  men  to  have  been  the  truest  and  best  friends 
of  their  country.  Let  us,  then,  perform  our  duties 
in  the  great  future,  calmly,  discreetly  and  courage 
ously.  Let  us,  as  faithful  citizens,  obey  every  law 
ful  command  of  those  who  for  the  time  administer 
the  affairs  of  the  country,  and  on  the  other  hand,  let 
us  require  of  the  Administration  a  faithful  adher 
ence  to  the  Constitution^  of  the  country,  and  the 
adoption  of  such  a  policy  as  will  bring  us  out  of  all 
our  perils,  one  people  under  the  Union  of  our 
fathers — a  Union  bound  together  with  the  ties  of 
kindred  blood,  mutual  interests,  and  equality  of 
rights.  This  is  the  only  Union  that  can  be  restor 
ed — it  is  the  only  Union  worth  restoring. 


SPEECH    AT     SALEM.* 


The  questions  of  our  duty  are  connected  with  the 
colossal  struggle  in  which  the  people  of  the  country 
have  been  engaged  for  more  than  three  years. 
These  questions  are  to  be  met;  and  considered  calm 
ly,  wisely,  fully  and  courageously.  In  this  hour  of 
peril  to  our  Union  and  our  institutions,  that  man  is 
not  worthy  the  title  of  an  American  citizen  who 
fails  to  utter  his  convictions  and  warnings,  if  he  be 
lieves  they  may  exert  a  salutary  influence,  however 
small,  upon  his  fellow-citizens. 

The  questions  proposed  to  every  American  citi 
zen  to-day  are :  What  shall  I  do  to  preserve  and 
perpetuate  the  great  principles  of  civil  liberty,  upon 
which  the  governments  of  the  States  and  of  the 
Union  are  based  ?  and  how  can  I  best  act  for  the  pur 
pose  of  continuing  the  political  relations  which  have 
existed  between  the  people  of  the  entire  country, 
and  conferred  upon  them  such  immeasurable  bene 
fits  in  the^  past  ?  I  state  the  issues  in  the  order  of 

^Delivered  before  the  Democratic  Convention  at  Salem,  April 
21,  1864. 


SPEECH  AT  SALEM.  99 

their  importance.  For,  for  one,  I  prefer  to  live  in  a 
country  no  larger  than  Massachusetts  alone  would 
constitute,  with  the  blessings  and  privileges  of  the 
principles  of  self-government  unimpaired,  than  dwell 
in  a  nation  embracing  the  entire  continent,  over 
shadowed  and  darkened  by  the  black  wings  of  a 
despotism. 

The  war  on  the  part  of  the  Government  was 
commenced  for  the  declared  purpose  of  restoring 
the  Union  and  the  Constitution.  It  was  believed 
that  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  South  desired 
the  continuance  of  the  Union,  but  were  controlled 
by  an  excited  and  desperate  minority  who  had  pos 
sessed  themselves  of  the  reins  of  the  State  Govern 
ments,  and  the  object  of  the  people  of  the  North 
was  to  suppress  armed  rebellion,  and  give  to  the  real 
majority  the  supremacy  in  the  seceded  States.  The 
result  was  to  be  accomplished  not  by  the  overthrow, 
but  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  principles  of 
self-government.  The  people  of  the  North,  uninflu 
enced  by  the  terrible  passions  which  the  war  has 
since  excited,  then  believed  that  the  Union  could 
and  should  be  restored  only  through  the  consent  of 
the  majority  of  the  people  of  the  several  States. 
I  believe  now  that  the  only  way  the  Union  can  be 
restored  or  any  Union  reconstructed  is  through  the 
voluntary  cooperation  of  the  people  of  the  different 
sections  of  the  country.  There  can  be  no  other 
union  upon  republican  principles.  There  may  be 


100  SPEECH  AT  SALEM. 

theoretically   a  unity  extorted   and   sustained   by 
force,  such  as  now  exists  and  is  maintained  between 
Eussia  and  Poland  and  between  Austria  and  Hun 
gary — a  despotic  power  and  a  people  acquiescing 
only  through  military  coercion  which  it  is  powerless 
to  resist — such  a  unity  will   dissolve  the  moment 
the  armed  hand  is  removed,  a  unity  which,  if  it 
could  be  compelled  in  this  country,  would  be  scarce 
ly  less  oppressive  to  the  conquering  than  to  the  con 
quered  section.     It  is  true  in  our  own  experience, 
that  an  attempt  to  subjugate  one  portion  of  the  peo 
ple  is,  and  can  only  be  prosecuted  by  the  exercise  of 
despotic  power.     The  constitutional  liberties  of  the 
people  are  now  suspended,  their  rights  under  the 
laws  denied,  and  the  principles  of  self-government 
subordinated  to  the  will  of  the  Federal  Executive. 
The  President  claims  that  it  is  necessary  for  him  to 
assume  these  powers  in  the  prosecution  of  the  war, 
and  that  he  is  authorized  to   exercise   them  from 
military  necessity.     If  this  claim  is  a  correct  one 
the  despotic  and  anti-republican  character  of  the 
acts  is  not  changed.     No  one  will  deny  that  if  the 
present  exigencies  demand  and  justify  such  exercise 
of  power,  the  same  necessity  will  require  a  contin 
uance  of  their  use  so  long  as  the  exigencies  con. 
tinue ;  and  that  if  these  exigencies  shall  be  perpet 
ual  in  duration,  then  that  we  must  have  a  perpetual 
despotism,  strengthening  and  increasing  as  all  power 
does  in  its  exercise.     It  is  true  that  a  large  portion 


SPEECH  AT  SALEM.  101 

of  the  people  have  not  personally  felt  the  inflictions 
of  the  despotism  which  exists.  Power  is  invaria 
bly  obsequious,  and  conceals  its  serpent  head  under 
specious  pretexts,  until  it  is  securely  planted  on  its 
throne ;  but  from  the  moment  it  gets  seated  and  con 
firmed,  it  makes  no  distinctions  among  the  people  in 
its  exactions.  Under  institutions  like  our?,  it  avails 
itself  of  the  spirit  and  passion  of  party  in  a  time  of 
great  popular  excitement,  to  cover  the  inception  and 
progress  of  its  aggressions  upon  the  liberties  of  the 
people,  but  when  it  once  obtains  a  sure  foothold  it 
makes  no  distinction  of  party.  Confirmed  despot 
ism  sympathizes  with,  and  receives  sympathy,  from  no 
party  of  the  people.  It  bestows  its  favors  upon  a 
few  sycophants,  and  the  people  of  all  parties  are 
equally  its  subjects. 

If  subjugation  of  the  South,  should  be  practically 
accomplished,  there  will  continue  the  same  neces 
sity  for  the  application  of  force  that  now  exists. 
If  the  entire  scheme  of  the  Administration  could 
be  consummated,  and  we  obtain  military  possession 
of  every  State  which  has  seceded,  and  find  one-tenth 
of  the  people  who  can  be  induced  to  take  the  pre 
scribed  oath,  and  elect  State  and  Federal  officers, 
will  it  not  require  as  large  a  force  at  least  as  is  now 
employed,  to  protect  the  Government  of  one-terth 
against  the  power  of  the  other  nine-tenths?  So 
long  as  the  policy  of  subjugation  is  persisted  in,  we 
must  live  under  arbitrary  military  power,  and  a  na- 


102  SPEECH  AT  bALEM. 

tional  unity,  based  upon  its  successful  issue,  can  be 
sustained  only  by  a  continued  exercise  of  the  same 
power. 

There  can  be  no  union  of  the  people  of  the  differ 
ent  sections  of  the  country  with  our  republican  insti 
tutions  preserved,  without  it  is  based  ultimately 
upon  the  free  exercise  of  the  right  of  self-govern 
ment  in  the  people  of  the  several  States.  The  de- 
clared  policy  of  the  Administration  is  now  subjuga 
tion.  It  has  announced  its  determination  to 
prosecute  the  war  not  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a 
result  which  will  permit  the  people  of  the  South  to 
exercise  the  rights  of  self-government,  but  for  the 
purpose  of  compelling  the  adoption  of  such  constitu 
tions  and  laws  in  the  several  States  of  that  section 
as  the  dominant  party  of  the  other  section  of  the 
country,  or  its  representatives,  shall  prescribe.  These 
results,  the  experience  of  the  world  and  human 
reason  teach  can  be  accomplished  only  through  a 
thorough  subjugation  and  keeping  in  subjection,  or 
in  the  extermination  of  the  people  of  the  South. 
The  principles  of  self-government  are  refused  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States,  and  in  their  place  is 
attempted  to  be  substituted  a  power  in  one-tenth 
who  have  subscribed  to  the  oath  under  the  so-called 
amnesty  proclamation,  to  rule  over  the  other  nine- 
tenths,  and  that  oath  taken  in  most  instances  through 
the  influence  of  military  power,  for  without  this  in 
fluence  there  is  not  a  State  in  the  South  in  which 


SPEECH  AT  SALEM.  103 

one-tenth  of  the  people  can  be  found  to  acquiesce 
in  the  policy  and  requirements  of  the  Federal  Ex 
ecutive. 

This  policy  of  the  Administration  is  sustained  in 
full  by  the  Republican  party  of  the  North,  and  so 
strong  are  the  passions  and  animosities  excited  in 
the  war,  that  if  the  people  now  resisting  the  author 
ity  of  the  General  Government  should  offer  to  lay 
down  their  arms,  subject  to  all  the  penalties  pre 
scribed  by  the  Constitution,  upon  the  sole  condition 
of  a  restoration  or  reconstruction  of  the  Union, 
based  upon  the  rights  and  privileges  established  by 
that  great  charter  of  our  liberties,  it  is  plain  that 
the  Republican  party  would  refuse  the  offer.  The 
war  has  been  and  is  prosecuted  under  this  declared 
policy  of  the  Administration.  More  than  three 
years  of  terrible  blood-shed  show  the  desperate 
character  of  the  undertaking.  Without  considering 
the  enormous  sacrifice  in  blood  and  treasure  which 
must  be  made  in  the  further  prosecution  of  the  war 
under  such  a  policy,  or  the  uncertainty,  at  least,  of 
its  successful  issue,  I  believe  that  if  the  subjugation 
and  practical  extermination  of  the  people  of  the 
South  could  be  accomplished,  it  could  be  effected 
only  through  such  an  exercise  of  power  as  the  God 
of  Heaven  would  frown  upon,  and  that  the  day  of 
its  consummation  would  mark  the  saddest  era  in  the 
history  of  the  people  of  the  North.  From  that  day 
they  would  live  under  a  Government  not  depending 


104  SPEECH  AT  SALEM. 

upon  the  consent  of  the  governed.  On  the  shaft 
that  would  commemorate  the  consummation  of  the 
policy  of  subjugation,  and  the  emancipation  by  it  of 
four  millions  of  negroes,  would  be  inscribed  the  epi 
taph  of  the  liberties  of  thirty  millions  of  people  - 
who  voluntarily  acquiesced  hi  the  destruction  of  a 
political  system,  under  which  they  and  their  fathers 
had  enjoyed  greater  freedom,  prosperity,  and  happi 
ness  than  was  ever  before  vouchsafed  to  any  other 
people  under  the  light  of  the  sun. 

The  idea  of  a  compelled  Union  is  preposterous. 
The  Union  under  which  we  have  lived  was  not  ere. 
ated  by  compulsion,  it  cannot  be  continued  by  com 
pulsion.  Whilst  a  majority  at  the  South  really 
favored  the  Union,  there  was  hope  of  restoring  it 
by  giving  them  the  supremacy  in  the  seceded  States ; 
but  now  that  every  man  of  influence  at  the  South 
has  been  driven  from  our  cause,  there  can  be  no  pos 
sibility  of  reunion,  without  their  being  first  concil 
iated.  The  policy  of  the  Administration  is  not 
intended  for  conciliation.  It  is  with  every  day  con 
firming  hatred  against  the  Government,  and  render 
ing  a  restoration  of  the  Union  more  impossible,  and 
it  is  now  a  most  momentous  question  whether,  under 
any  change  of  policy  or  administration,  reconcilia 
tion  can  be  effected.  If  the  people  of  the  country 
would  revert  to  the  principles  on  which  the  Union 
was  established,  and,  instead  of  hatred,  would  cher 
ish  a  love  and  respect  for  each  other,  we  could  hope 


SPEECH  AT  BOSTON.  1Q5 

for  a  reunion,  not  otherwise.  Constitutions,  laws 
forced  consent,  cb  not  make  a  Union,  any  more  than 
the  marriage  ceremony  can  unite  hearts  which  have 
no  sympathy  with  each  other.  The  Constitution  did 
not  create  the  Union.  It  existed  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people  of  the  different  States,  and  the  Constitu 
tion  was  its  open  recognition  and  the  golden  bond 
which  encircled  it.  The  Constitution  would  not 
have  been  worth  the  parchment  on  which  it  was 
written,  without  the  fact  of  a  pre-existing  Union, 
and  it  has  no  power  in  itself  to  compel  a  Union  in 
the  future,  if  the  fraternal  spirit  which  created  the 
Union  shall  have  been  destroyed. 

If,  in  the  providence  of  G-od,  the  people  of  this 
generation  are  doomad  to  witness  the  destruction 
of  the  American  Union,  the  sp33ta3le  will  bring  no 
sorrow  to  the  hearts  of  those  who  for  long  years 
have  prayed  for  sush  a  consummation,  and  but  little 
of  regret  to  those  who,  intoxicated  with  the  excite 
ments  of  the  time,  have  anticipated  the  event,  and 
thanked  God  that  the  Union  was  gone,  never  to  re 
turn. 

The  only  real,  sincere,  heartfelt  mourners  at  the 
grave  of  the  Union  will  be  the  conservative  men 
of  the  country.  They  have  in  the  past  enjoyed  its 
priceless  blessings  with  gratitude,  and  performed  all 
its  requirements  with  cheerfulness.  They  have 
stood  by  it  in  good  report  and  in  evil  report — in 
prosperity  and  in  adversity — in  peace  and  in  war  j 


106  SPEECH  AT  BOSTON. 

and  they  will  stand  by  it  now,  so  long  as  there  is  a 
ray  of  hope  that  this  great  people  may  be  again  rec 
onciled. 


]  \to*$£r 
SPEECH    IN    FANEUIL    HALL.* 


Historians  relate  that  after  a  long  and  cruel  war 
between  the  Romans  and  the  Samnites,  the  Samnite 
people  were  exhausted  and  asked  for  terms  which 
the  Romans  refused  to  give.  In  this  emergency  the 
Samnite  General,  by  an  adroit  movement,  drew  the 
whole  Roman  army  into  a  dark  defile.  The  Roman 
General  when  too  late,  suspected  a  snare,  and  attempt 
ed  to  retrace  his  steps,  when  he  found  the  entrance  and 
the  craggy  heights  on  either  side  of  the  defile,  com 
manded  by  the  Samnite  troops.  The  entire  Roman 
army  was  completely  in  the  power  of  the  Samnites. 
Caius  Pontius,  the  Samnite  General,  deliberated 
upon  the  course  he  should  pursue,  and  sent  for  ad 
vice  to  his  aged  father,  the  wise  Herennius.  The 
old  man  came  to  the  camp  and  pronounced  this  or 
acle  :  "kill  them  all,  or  send  them  all  back  with  hon 
or  ;  destroy  your  enemies,  or  make  friends  of  them." 
Historians  further  relate  that  the  Samnite  General 
refused  to  follow  either  of  these  counsels,  and  that 
he  required  the  Roman  army  to  pass  under  the  yoke 

^Delivered   in  Faneuil  Hall  at  the  Convention  for  election  of 
Delegates  to  the  Philadelphia  Convention,  August  8,  1866. 


108  SPEECH  IN  FANEUIL  HALL. 

thereby  inflicting  upon  it  the  greatest  humiliation; 
and  history  further  records  the  details  of  a  war  of 
more  than  thirty  years  duration  between  the  Ro 
mans  and  the  Samnites,  as  the  result  of  that  humil 
iation,  unprecedented  in  the  cruelty  with  which  it 
was  prosecuted,  and  in  the  amount  of  blood  that 
was  shed. 

These  great  facts  of  history,  are  full  of  in 
struction  and  warning  to  the  American  people.  For 
the  future  peace  of  the  country,  there  has  been  but 
one  of  two  policies  to  be  pursaed  since  the  close  of 
the  war.  Either  to  make  a  wilderness  of  the  fer 
tile  acres  of  the  South,  and  to  so  far  crush  all  hope 
of  liberty  in  the  future,  that  her  population  could 
be  held  impassive  in  our  iron  grasp,  or  to  restore 
to  her  people  the  rights  of  American  citizens,  treat 
them  with  magnanimity  and  honor,  encourage  their 
hopes,  and  stimulate  their  industry. 

These  alternatives  were  presented  to  the  Generals 
who  commanded  our  armies  at  the  close  of  the  war. 
They  spurned  the  first,  as  unworthy  the  American 
name  and  character,  and  on  the  battle-field,  amid 
the  plaudits  of  their  gallant  troops,  offered  to  tho 
brave  men  who  had  surrendered,  the  fullest  amnes 
ty,  and  required  of  them  only  that  they  should  peace 
ably  return  to  their  homes  and  obey  the  laws.  This 
conduct  was  met  with  a  hearty  approval  from  the 
great  mass  of  the  American  people.  The  partisan 
leaders  alone  objected  to  it.  They  thought  they  saw 


SPEECH  IN  FANEU1L  HALL.  109 

in  the  spirit  of  the  act,  the  subsidence  of  the  par 
tisan  passion  and  sectional  hatred,  to  which  they  owed 
their  prominence  and  positions. 

But  the  will  of  the  people  was  too  strong  and 
unmistakable,  to  be  openly  resisted.  It  was  not 
deemed  prudent  by  the  radical  leaders,  to  demand 
that  the  South  be  blotted  out  of  the  Union,  and  her 
people  held  as  slaves  to  the  North.  They  pretend 
ed  to  acquiesce  in  the  popular  will,  but  claimed 
that  the  interests  of  the  country  required  that  the 
Southern  States  should  be  restored  to  the  Union, 
only  after  a  period  of  probation ;  they  asked  only 
for  delay.  They  proposed  only  that  the  white  peo 
ple  of  the  South  should  be  held  for  an  indefinite 
time  by  military  power ;  and,  as  it  was  necessary 
for  their  party  success  that  they  should  secure  the 
votes  of  these  States  whilst  thus  held,  they  devised 
a  plan  of  organizing  governments,  to  be  controlled, 
through  the  instrumentality  of  enfranchised  negroes, 
protected  by  the  military,  and  directed  by  the  offi 
cers  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau. 

These  partisan  leaders  observed  a  worse  than 
punic  faith,  not  only  with  the  people  of  the  South, 
but  with  the  people  of  the  North.  They  refused  to 
be  governed  by  the  principles  which  the  people  of 
the  South  understood  by  the  terms  of  the  capitulation 
of  their  armies,  were  to  be  applied  to  that  section, 
and  through  plausible  pretexts  they  thwarted  the 
will  of  the  people  of  the  North.  Their  object  was 


HO  SPEECH  IN  FANEU1L  HALL. 

political  power.  They  well  knew  that  if  the  white 
people  of  the  South  should  be  allowed  their  rights 
under  the  Constitution,  they  would  act  politically 
with  the  Conservative  party  of  the  North,  which 
would  give  to  it  the  numerical  majority  in  the 
country.  Their  object  was  to  prevent  this.  These 
men  who  have  prated  so  loudty  within  the  past  few 
years  of  the  divine  rights  of  the  majority,  and  of 
the  duty  of  the  minority  to  acquiesce  in  its  will,  have 
determined,  as  the  only  means  of  perpetuating  their 
own  power,  to  make  by  force  the  majority  subser 
vient  to  the  minority.  It  requires  no  argument 
from  me  to  show  that  this  is  entirely  subversive  of 
republican  principles.  If  it  was  claimed  by  these 
leaders  that  there  should  be  further  protection  to 
minorities,  it  would  be  concurred  in  by  the  conserva 
tives  as  the  Constitution  was  framed  for  the 
purpose  of  protecting  minority  interests ;  and  if  the 
protection  it  gives  is  insufficient,  it  is  legitimate  to 
make  an  amendment  to  give  further  protection. 
New  England  claimed  in  1814,  that  the  Constitu 
tion  gave  inadequate  protection  to  the  interests  of 
minorities,  and  the  South  has  made  the  same  claim 
since.  It  is  one  thing  however  to  give  to  the  minor 
ity  power  to  protect  itself,  through  checks  upon  the 
action  of  the  majority,  and  quite  another  thing  to 
empower  the  minority  to  legislate  against  the  will 
of  the  majority. 

But  aside  from  the  anti-republican  principles  of 


SPEECH  IN  FANEU1L  HALL. 


the  policy  of  the  radical  leaders,  what  must  be  the 
practical  effect  of  that  policy  upon  the  interests  of 
the  Union.  They  admit  that  the  Constitutional 
rights  of  the  people  of  the  South,  must  at  some  fu 
ture  period  be  restored  to  them  ;  that  it  is  only  a 
question  of  time.  Is  it  then  expedient  that  there 
shall  be  any  delay  in  restoring  these  rights  ?  Can 
the  people  of  the  South  be  trusted  after  five  or  ten 
years  of  abuse  out  of  the  Union,  better  than  they 
can  be  if  permitted  the  rights  of  American  citizens 
to-day.  Will  unkind  and  unchristian  treatment 
of  years  cause  the  people  of  the  South  to  love  us 
better  than  they  do  now  ?  Cruel  punishments,  and 
deprivations  never  yet  brought  love  and  respect. 
Every  one  knows  that  hatred  and  animosities  are 
fearfully  increased  with  every  day  of  a  postponed 
Union.  Every  one  knows  that  the  sentiment  of  the 
people  of  the  South  in  favor  of  a  restored  Union 
is  not  nearly  so  strong  as  it  was  a  year  ago.  It 
will  be  weakened  with  every  act  under  the  present 
policy.  If  the  sole  object  of  the  radical  leaders  in 
Congress  was  to  render  a  restored  Union  impossible, 
they  could  have  devised  no  more  effective  method  to 
accomplish  it  than  the  one  they  are  now  pursuing. 

The  president  of  the  United  States,  mindful  of  his 
high  duties,  and  of  his  oath  to  preserve,  protect  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  has 
fearlessly  and  most  ably  opposed  the  entire  policy  of 
the  Radical  Congress.  He  has  stood  alone  and 


112  SPEECH  IN  FANEUIL  HALL. 

employed  all  the  powers  that  were  vested  in  him  by 
virtue  of  his  high  office,  to  resist  its  attempted  usur 
pations,  looking  anxiously  forward  to  the  time  when 
the  Constitution  loving  people  of  the  country  would 
rally  to  his  support.  The  Convention  to  be  held  at 
Philadelphia  is  called  for  the  purpose  of  expressing 
the  will  of  the  people.  I  believe  if  the  members  of 
that  Convention  shall  act  with  wisdom  and  patriot- 
ism,~they  will  render  important  service  in  the  salva 
tion  of  the  country,  and  that  at  no  distant  day 
the  people  of  every  State  will  be  represented  in  the 
Congress  of  the  Union,  and  such  protection  given  to 
all  the  great  and  important  interests  of  the  country 
as  to  prevent  any  jealousies  or  conflicts  in  the  fu 
ture,  and  that  then  again,  the  whole  American  peo 
ple  will  proclaim  in  the  words  of  the  defender  of  the 
Constitution :  "Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever, 
one  and  inseparable/' 


SPEECH    AT    MANCHESTER.* 


It  is  now  nearly  three  years  since  the  people  of 
the  North  rejoiced  at  the  termination  of  the  war,  ac 
complished  with  the  complete  triumph  of  their  ar 
mies,  and  looked  hopefully  forward  to  the  immediate 
practical  reunion  of  the  disrupted  sections  of  the 
country  under  the  system,  and  in  accordance  with 
the  principles,  which  had  united  them  in  the  prosper 
ous  and  happy  past.  They  expected  th#t,  this  re 
sult  accomplished,  the  great  productive  interests  of 
the  South  would  be  revived,  and  many  believed  they 
would  be  revived  under  more  favorable  auspices  than 
before  the  war,  and  that  consequent  upon  the  re 
newed  prosperity  of  that  great  section,  the  commer 
cial,  manufacturing  and  other  great  interests  of  the 
country  would  be  reinvigorated,  and  gradually,  but 
speedily  restored  to  the  condition  of  permanent 
prosperity  which  they  enjoyed  at  the  commencement 
of  the  struggle.  It  was  then  universally  hoped  and 
believed,  that  with  the  strength  and  confidence  this 
expected  state  of  affairs  would  give,  with  rigid 

*Deliwed  at  Manchester,  N.  H.,  January  22,  1868. 


114  SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

economy  in  the  administration  of  the  government, 
and  the  vast  reduction  of  expenditures  incident  to  a 
return  to  the  rule  of  the  constitution,  the  country 
could  bear  the  burden  the  war  had  entailed  upon  it, 
and  that  the  business  of  the  country  could  be 
brought  back  to  the  constitutional  currency,  which 
was  deemed  indispensable  to  its  healthful  and  pros 
perous  condition. 

But  now  after  such  a  long  interval  of  time,  in 
stead  of  rejoicing  in  the  realization  of  their  reason 
able  hopes,  the  people  of  the  North  are  oppressed 
with  feelings  of  uncertainty  and  anxiety  in  regard 
to  all  their  important  interests,  greater  than  at  any 
period  in  their  past  history.  In  the  nearly  three 
years  that  have  thus  elapsed,  the  political  relations 
of  the  South  to  the  Union  have  not  been  restored, 
its  productive  interests  have  not  been  revived,  and 
largely  as  a  consequence,  the  commercial,  manufac 
turing  and  other  industrial  interests  of  the  North 
have  languished,  and  are  now  in  a  condition  which 
causes  disquietude  and  alarm. 

The  agricultural  sections  of  the  North  feel  sensi 
bly  the  great  diminution  in  the  demands  of  the 
South  for  their  cereals ;  the  manufacturing  sections 
feel  no  less  sensibly  the  substantial  loss  of  so  great 
a  market  for  their  fabrics,  and  the  largely  decreased 
production  of  the  great  staple  which  is  the  basis  of 
their  manufacture,  and  its  consequent  enhanced 
price,  render  their  future  prosperity  doubtful.*  Our 


SPEECH  A T  MANCHESTER.  1 1 5 

commerce,  which  depends  largely  on  the  export  of 
the  great  product  of  the  South,  which  before  the 
war  was  of  more  value  than  all  our  other  exports 
combined,  feels  most  sensibly  the  loss,  as  its  present 
depressed  condition  and  the  balances  of  our  mer 
chants  abroad  abundantly  prove. 

With  this  depression  of  the  great  business  inter 
ests  of  the  country,  the  extraordinary  expenses  of 
policies  outside  the  Constitution  have  been  and  are 
continued,  and  increased ;  and  reckless  extravagance 
instead  of  rigid  economy,  is  practiced  in  all  the  ex 
penditures  of  the  General  Government. 

Why  are  these  things  so  ?  Are  the  people  of  the 
South  unwilling  to  resume  their  position  under  the 
Constitution,  and  does  there  exist  a  necessity  for  the 
continuance  of  vast  extra-constitutional  expenditures 
for  the  purpose  of  protecting  the  government,  which 
is  the  only  ground  on  which  the  exercise  of  powers 
not  enumerated  in  the  Constitution  has  been 
claimed  ? 

The  South,  from  the  day  of  the  surrender  of  its 
armies,  has  been  absolutely  powerless  of  aggressive 
action.  This  every  man  at  the  North  knows  and 
believes.  In  no  quarter  of  that  vast  section,  in  the 
time  that  has  elapsed  since  the  close  of  the  war,  has 
there  been  manifested  any  desire  or  intention  to  re. 
new  the  struggle.  From  the  hour  the  people  of  the 
South  abandoned  their  hope  of  independence,  they 
have  earnestly  sought  and  pleaded  for  a  full  resto. 


116  SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

ration  of  the  Union  under  the  Constitution.  With 
out  a  murmur  they  yielded  up  their  immense  proper 
ty  in  slaves,  and  passed  ordinances  for  the  repudiation 
of  the  debts  of  their  communities  contracted  in  the 
struggle,  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  the  restoration 
of  their  relations  to  the  Union,  and  as  an  earnest 
of  their  good  faith  in  the  future.  Everything  that 
a  great,  civilized  and  Christian  people  could  do,  con 
sistent  with  honor  and  the  future  welfare  of  their 
communities,  the  people  of  the  South  have  done,  to 
restore  the  Union,  and  to  re-assert  the  rule  of  the 
Constitution  throughout  their  section. 

But  how  has  this  conduct  on  the  part  of  the  people 
of  the  South  been  met  by  the  people  of  the  North  ? 
The  Congress  of  the  United  States  which  represents 
them,  and  is  so  united  in  its  action  as  to  control  all 
the  powers  of  legislation,  has  persistently  refused 
all  overtures  made  by  the  South,  has  refused  to  ac 
knowledge  their  constitutional  local  governments* 
has  refused  to  receive  the  States  of  that  section  back 
into  the  Union,  and  to  acknowledge,  or  allow  a  seat 
in  its  body,  to  their  Representives  duly  elected  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  and  has  held,  and  is  now  hold 
ing,  the  States  of  that  entire  section  by  military 
power.  This  is  not  all.  It  not  only  has  held,  and 
now  holds,  these  States  under  military  rule,  with 
armed  soldiery  quartered  in  every  District,  but 
whilst  thus  holding  them,  has  disfranchised  the  better 


SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.  117 

and  more  influential  portion  of  the  white  population, 
given  the  ballot  to  the  emancipated  negroes,  who,  in 
many  States  constituted  a  majority  of  the  population, 
stationed  partisan  officers  at  the  polls,  and  have 
gone  through  with  the  wicked  mockery  of  the  form 
of  holding  elections.  As  if  it  were  not  a  sufficient 
oppression  and  humiliation  of  the  people  of  the 
South,  to  refuse  them  a  voice  in  the  General  Govern  - 
ment,  and  to  supersede  their  constitutional  local 
governments  by  military  rule,  Congress  is  practising 
upon  them  the  refinement  of  cruelty  and  insult,  by 
securing  the  pretended  formal  consent  of  their  com 
munities  to  its  acts  and  partisan  policies,  enforced 
by  the  bayonet,  and  expressed  through  the  ballots  of 
negroes  and  far  more  degraded  white  men,  against 
the  intelligence  of  the  better  portion  of  the  white 
population  which  is  forbidden  any  participation  in 
the  elections.  A  more  cruel,  wicked,  diabolical  treat 
ment  was  never  before  attempted  by  a  civilized  gov 
ernment  on  a  Christian  people.  Prussia  holds  Pol 
and  5  Austria,  Hungary ;  England,  Ireland,  by  force 
of  military  power,  but  neither  of  these  governments, 
in  the  face  of  the  civilized  world,  has  ever  attempted 
or  dared  attempt,  through  such  a  degrading  pol  icy 
to  extort  a  consent  to  oppression,  from  the  victims 
of  their  tyranny, 

The  purpose  of  Congress  in  the  adoption  of  these 
extra  constitutional  measures  must  be,  either  to  per 
manently  hold  these  States  by  military  power,  or 


118  SPEECH  A  T  MANCHESTER. 

eventually  to  commit  the  destinies  of  one  of  the 
most  important  of  the  great  sections  of  the  country 
into  the  hands  of  the  emancipated  negroes  who  will 
constitute  in  most  of  the  States  a  majority  of  the 
voting  population.  Congress  has  declared  the  lat 
ter  to  be  its  purpose.  Better,  far  better,  for  the 
interests  of  the  South ;  better,  far  better  for  repub 
lican  institutions  in  the  future,  that  that  fair  section 
be  forever  held  in  the  most  relentless  military  grasp. 
Peace  and  order  might  then  for  a  portion  of  the 
time  at  least  be  maintained,  and  an  opportunity  giv 
en  for  a  partial  development  of  the  great  interests 
of  that  section ;  and  the  policy  of  the  government, 
while  it  wo  aid  bring  Republican  principles  into  con 
tempt,  would  not  necessarily  work  their  ruin. 

But  entrust  the  great  interests  of  that  section  to 
the  control  of  negroes,  inferior  in  natural  capacity, 
degraded  as  the  authors  of  the  policy  declare  by 
centuries  of  oppression  uneducated,  without  any  con 
ception  of  the  proprieties  and  obligations  of  civilized 
life,  with  no  knowledge,  or  traditions  even,  of  our 
form  of  government,  and  if  not  relieved  through 
revolution,  a  howling  wilderness  will  be  made  of  the 
fertile  acres  of  the  South,  and  not  only  reproach,  but 
destruction,  brought  to  Republican  institutions  in  ten 
States  of  the  American  Union.  But  this  result  I 
believe  a  wise  and  just  God  will  never  permit  to  be 
accomplished.  If  persisted  in,  it  will  in  time  bring 
revolution  and  a  war  of  races,  in  which  the  weaker 


SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.  1 19 

will  go  down. 

Five  millions  of  American  people  nurtured  in  the 
spirit  of  American  liberty,  and  educated  in  the  prin 
ciples  of  the  American  system  of  government,  may 
be  overpowered,  may  be  oppressed  and  down-trodden 
for  the  time,  but  can  never  be  made  slaves.  Inhab 
iting  a  territory  larger  than  the  territories  of  Great 
Britain,  France,  Austria  and  Prussia  combined,  with 
a  climate  unsurpassed,  and  productions  more  varied 
abundant  and  rich  than  any  territory  of  similar  ex 
tent  on  the  face  of  the  globe,  they  are  not  to  be  ex 
terminated  or  enslaved,  or  their  lands  roamed  over 
by  mongrels  and  negroes. 

But  whatever  may  be  the  effect  of  the  policy  of 
Congress  upon  the  liberties  of  the  people  of  the 
South,  or  on  the  future  of  Republican  principles,  so 
long  as  it  is  persisted  in,  all  the  great  and  impor 
tant  interests  of  that  section  will  be  uncared  for, 
and  all  energy  and  enterprise  paralyzed.  Good  gov 
ernment  is  indispensable  for  the  prosperity  of  any 
community.  Held  under  military  rule,  or  governed 
by  negroes,  with  the  entire  system  of  labor  disor 
ganized,  how  can  the  country  hope  for  any  restora 
tion  of  the  interests  of  the  South,  or  expect  any 
thing  but  further  deterioration  with  the  progress  of 
time  ?  What  capitalist  from  abroad  will  seek  invest 
ment  in  a  province  under  negro  rule,  or  what  hardy 
laborer  of  the  Caucasian  race  can  be  induced  to 
make  there  a  home  for  himself  and  his  family  ?  Does 


120  SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

even  any  enterprising  friend  of  the  policy  from  the 
North,  notwithstanding  the  great  cheapness  of  the 
lands,  venture  to  go  to  the  South  and  live  under  the 
policy  he  has  assisted  to  prescribe  for  that  section  ? 

But  what  must  be  the  effect  of  this  conduct  to 
ward  the  South  upon  the  public  securities  of  the 
country  ?  To  say  nothing  of  the  loss  of  revenue  it 
must  occasion  from  the  unproductiveness  of  an  entire 
section,  is  there  nothing  to  be  apprehended  from  it 
in  the  future,  from  the  accession  to  our  voting  pop 
ulation  of  four  millions  of  negroes,  not  one  of  whom 
owns  a  dollar  in  the  bonds  of  the  government  ?  Ig 
norant  though  they  are,  the  instincts  of  self-interest 
will  not  be  found  wanting. 

They  will  be  found  voting  in  a  body  for  the  most 
extravagant  expenditures,  as  it  is  the  radical  boast 
they  did  several  months  since  in  one  of  the  most 
important  cities  of  the  South,  where  they  with  unan 
imity,  voted  the  credit  of  the  municipality  in  which 
they  voted,  for  $2,000,000,  in  a  single  day;  the 
credit  really  of  the  white  population  which  was  for 
bidden  to  vote.  The  same  class  will,  as  unanimous 
ly  and  more  enthusiastically  in  the  future,  vote  for 
the  repudiation  of  all  obligations  which  detract  from 
the  income  of  their  labor.  But  more  directly  and 
inevitably  does  this  extra-constitutional  policy  to 
ward  the  South  tend  to,  aye  accomplish,  repudiation, 
from  the  necessary  absorption  of  the  revenues  of 
the  country  which  it  requires.  Never,  before  the 


SPEECH  A T  MANCHESTER.  121 

war,  did  the  annual  expenses  of  the  government  ex- 
ceed  about  $75,  000,  000.  The  last  year,  the  expen 
ses  of  the  government,  exclusive  of  interest  and 
pensions,  amounted  to  about  $200,  000,  000.  The 
Radical  leaders  openly  avow  that  the  expenses  of 
the  government  must  be  necessarily  large  in  the  fu 
ture,  and  it  is  undeniable,  if  their  policy  is  to  be 
continued.  They  must  be  constantly  increasing. 
The  difference  between  the  amount  of  the  anual  ex 
penses  before  and  since  the  war,  or  rather  the  ex 
penses  of  the  extra-constitutional  policy  is  sufficient 
to  pay  nearly,  if  not  quite,  five  per  cent,  on  the  en 
tire  present '  amount  of  the  indebtedness  of  the 
United  States. 

The  danger  of  repudiation  in  the  future  is  far  great 
er  from  the  inability  of  the  country  to  furnish  suffic 
ient  revenue  for  the  payment  of  the  debt,  than 
from  any  formal  action  of  the  people  to  rid  them 
selves  of  their  burdens.  The  business  of  the  coun 
try  is  now  taxed  to  the  fullest  extent. — Any  increase 
would  depress  business  without  augmenting  the 
revenue,  yet  it  is  evident  that  if  we  should  effect  a 
return  to  specie  payments,  the  revenues  would  be 
insufficient  to  defray  the  probable  expenses  of  the 
General  Government  under  the  present  policy,  and 
the  interest  on  its  indebtedness.  If  this  is  true, 
then  either  the  expenses  of  the  Government  must 
be  reduced,  or  we  shall  be  unable  to  meet  the  de 
mands  of  our  public  creditors  upon  such  a  consum- 


122  SPEE CH  AT  MANCHESTER 

mation.  It  should  be  remembered  that  the  actual 
expenses  of  the  government  constitute  the  first  claim 
upon  the  treasury.  They  must  be  first  paid  before 
any  appropriations  can  be  made  for  the  public  debt. 
Therefore  the  solution  of  the  question  of  our  ability 
to  meet  our  indebtedness  in  the  future  depends 
largely,  if  not  entirely,  upon  the  determination  of 
the  question  of  what  the  annual  expenditures  of  the 
General  Government  are  to  be.  It  is  useless  to 
speculate  upon  the  amount  that  can  be  applied  an 
nually  to  the  principal  or  interest  of  our  bonds, 
until  it  is  determined  with  approximate  correctness 
at  least,  what  the  prior  claims  on  the  treasury — the 
annual  expenses  of  the  government  are  to  be. 

The  most  important  enquiry  then  as  affecting  the 
value  of  our  public  securities  is,  are  the  expenses 
of  the  General  Government  to  be  increased,  or  even 
to  be  continued  as  at  present,  or  are  they  to  be  re 
duced  ?  Are  we  to  perpetuate  the  policy  of  extra- 
constitutional  appropriations  for  an  army  of  over 
50,  000  men,  for  officers  and  men  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  throughout  the  South,  and  for  all  other  appli 
ances  necessary  to  carry  out  and  maintain  the  entire 
radical  scheme  in  that  section.  The  para 
mount  question  for  those  interested  in  our  public 
securities  to-day,  is  that  of  retrenchment,  by  return 
ing  to  the  rule  of  the  constitution,  saving  to  the 
country  an  annual  expenditure  nearly  sufficient  to 
pay  our  entire  interest,  and  thereby  putting  the 


SPEE CH  AT  MANCHESTER.  \ 2 3 

people  of  the  Southern  States  in  a  position  to  con 
tribute  something  to  the  treasury  of  the  country. 

The  perfidy  of  this  entire  Radical  scheme  for  the 
oppression  of  the  white  people  of  the  South  at  an 
annual  expense  of  scarcely  less  than  $100, 000, 000 
to  the  tax-payers  of  the  country,  is  paralleled  only 
by  the  mendacity  with  which  its  authors  in  Congress 
attempt  to  justify  their  acts  with  the  people  of  the 
North.  They  assert  that  their  policy  is  demanded 
to  carry  into  effect  the  purposes  for  which  the  war 
was  waged.  No  such  purpose  was  ever  declared 
before,  or  during,  the  war.  Congress  declared  by 
solemn  resolve  in  the  commencement  of  the  struggle, 
that  the  war  was  waged  not  in  any  spirit  of  oppres 
sion,  nor  for  conquest  or  subjugation,  but  to  defend 
and  maintain  the  supremacy  of  the  Constitution/and 
preserve  the  Union,  with  all  the  dignity,  equality  and 
rights  of  the  several  States,  unimpaired.  This 
pledge  was  repeated  by  the  Executive  and  Legisla 
tive  departments  during  the  war.  No  proclamation 
was  ever  made  to  the  army  that  they  were  to  fight 
for  the  establishment  of  negro  suffrage,  and  it  is 
plain  that  if  it  had  been,  no  armies  would  have  vol 
unteered  for  the  purpose,  and  the  war  would  not 
have  been  conducted  under  the  auspicies  which  in 
sured  the  final  triumph  of  our  arms.  No  such  pur 
pose  was  understood  by  the  army,  or  by  the  masses 
of  the  people  at  the  North.  If  such  a  purpose  was 
contemplated  by  the  radical  Congressional  leaders, 


124  SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

it  would  tend  strongly  to  justify  the  charge  that  has 
been  made,  that  the  war  was  desired  by  them  only 
for  partisan  purposes,  and  that  they  entered  upon 
and  conducted  it  as  they  would  a  political  campaign, 
for  power  and  place — in  other  words  that  they  re 
garded  the  great  civil  war,  and  the  slaughter  of  hun 
dreds  of  thousands  of  brave  men;  only  as  a  means 
for  the  maintenance  and  perpetuity  of  the  political 
organization  of  which  they  were  the  leaders. 

Professing  to  be  honest  champions  of  universal 
suffrage,  these  same  Congressional  leaders  claim 
that  every  negro,  without  any  discrimination  re 
garding  his  capacity  or  intelligence,  has  a  natural 
and  inalienable  right  to  exercise  the  elective  fran 
chise,  and  they  denounce  the  masses  at  the  North, 
acting  under  the  old  Democratic  banner  who  deny 
this  postulate,  as  illiberal,  and  opposed  to  the  pro 
gressive  spirit  of  republican  principles.  Let  us  ap 
ply  to  these  high-sounding  pretensions  the  test  of 
experience  in  our  past  history.  From  the  first  set 
tlement  of  the  country  to  the  present  time,  great, 
fundamental,  antagonistic  tendencies  upon  questions 
underlying  those  of  suffrage,  have  characterized  the 
respective  political  parties.  The  one  party  com 
prising  the  wealth  of  the  country  and  the  masses  it 
could  control,  has  naturally  and  strongly  favored 
and  tended  to  strengthen  the  power  and  preroga 
tives  of  government.  Its  tendency  has  been  tow 
ards  a  government  of  the  few.  The  other  party 


SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.  125 

comprising  the  bold,  intellectual  strength  and 
statesmanship  of  the  country,  and  sustained  by  the 
independent  laboring  masses,  has  tended  toward  a 
government  of  the  whole  people.  The  one  largely 
representing  capital,  has  been  distrustful  of  the  nu 
merical  strength  of  the  masses  representing  labor. 
The  other,  with  a  respect  for  capital,  and  a  regard 
for  its  safety,  has  been  distrustful  of  its  political  in 
fluence,  and  has  reposed  confidence  in  the  masses 
representing  Jlabor,  with  the  conviction  that  labor 
would  in  the  natural  order  of  things,  in  every  com 
munity,  work  in  harmony  with  capital,  and  that 
where  their  proper  relations  were  not  disturbed, 
its  democratic  tendency  would  only  serve  as  a  salu 
tary  check  and  offset  to  the  aristocratic  tendencies 
of  wealth.  At  the  period  of  the  commencement  of 
the  Revolution,  the  tendency  in  one  party  of  the 
people  was  toward  a  continuance  of  our  relations 
with  Great  Britain,  under  the  belief  that  its  power 
was  indispensable  for  the  order  and  well  being  of 
the  Country.  The  tendency  in  the  other  party  was 
toward  independence  and  a  government  of  the 
whole  people.  The  leaders  of  both  parties  un 
doubtedly  acted  upon  their  convictions  regarding 
the  public  good.  But  the  popular  party  succeeded, 
and  large  numbers  of  their  opponents  expatriated 
themselves,  under  the  belief  that  there  would  be  no 
safety  for  persons  or  property  under  a  government 
of  the  whole  people.  After  the  close  of  the  Revo- 


126  SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

lution,  the  contest  was  renewed  under  issues  grow 
ing  out  of  the  altered  circumstances  of  the  country. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  the 
party  of  Democratic  tendencies  prevailed,  and  gov 
erned  in  the  affairs  of  the  country,  almost  without 
intermission  until  1861.  The  fundamental  princi 
ples  of  that  party  are  historic,  and  have  been  fully 
exemplified  through  administrations  covering  half  a 
century.  The  Democratic  party  has  ever  been 
based  on  an  unswerving  faith  in  the  capacity  and 
virtue  in  the  people  for  self-government.  During 
this  entire  period  it  never  faltered  in  its  trust  in 
the  people.  It  freely  and  cordially  welcomed  to  all 
the  rights  of  citizenship,  the  hardy  sons  of  Europe 
who  sought  in  this  country  a  home  for  themselves 
and  their  descendants.  This  liberal  policy  contribu 
ted  largely  to  swell  the  tide  of  immigration,  and  to 
it,  large,  influential,  and  well  governed  States  of  the 
Union  are  indebted  for  their  present  positions  and 
prosperity.  These  principles,  and  this  policy  of  the 
Democracy  were  constantly  and  vehemently  assailed 
by  the  opponents  of  the  party,  as  tending  too  large 
ly  to  strengthen  and  increase  the  democratic  ele 
ment  in  the  government. 

The  leaders  of  the  party  of  universal  negro  suf 
frage  of  to-day,  excepting  those  who  deserted  the 
Democratic  party  and  its  principles,  have  been  in 
the  past  the  most  bitter  opponents  of  these  princi 
ples  and  this  policy  of  the  Democracy.  They  have 


SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.  127 

doubted  the  virtue  and  wisdom  in  the  masses  of  the 
people  for  self-government,  and  spent  their  lives  in 
endeavoring  to  hedge  in  and  restrict  the  exercise  of 
the  elective  franchise  by  the  laboring  classes.  The 
leaders  of  universal  negro  suffrage  in  New  England 
to-day,  were  but  a  few  years  since  the  leaders  in  the 
so-called  American,  or  Knownothing  movement, 
which  culminated  in  the  Republican  party.  Under 
their  leadership  State  Constitutions  even,  were 
amended  so  as  to  prohibit  those  of  foreign  birth 
from  voting,  unless  they  possessed  prescribed  educa 
tional  qualifications. 

There  is  little  in  the  antecedents  of  the  Radical 
leaders  to  impart  confidence  in  their  professions  of 
regard  for  the  laboring  masses  in  connection  with 
their  policy  of  universal  negro  suflr  age.  They  certain 
ly  have  manifested  no  change  of  principle  in  their  con 
duct  toward  the  masses  at  the  North,  and  there  is 
much  to  show  that  in  their  policy  toward  the  South 
they  are  actuated  less  by  a  regard  for  the  negro 
than  by  a  hatred  of  the  white  people  of  that  section- 
Indeed,  their  entire  action  upon  negro  suffrage  is 
only  consistent  with  an  intention  of  availing  them 
selves  of  the  liberal  and  popular  democratic  idea 
on  suffrage,  and  of  pushing  it  to  a  ruinous  extreme, 
to  bring  into  disrepute,  and  overwhelm,  suffrage  it" 
self  at  the  South. 

In  the  natural  and  undisturbed  order  of  things, 
an  inferior  and  degraded  race  would  be  largely  in- 


128  SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

fluenced  and  controlled  by  the  wealth  of  their  re 
spective  communities ;  and  if  to  the  people  of  each 
Southern  State  had  been  left  the  management  of 
their  own  affairs,  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor 
would  perhaps  have  been  adjusted  so  that  little  dan 
ger  of  collision  between  the  different  classes  would 
have  been  apprehended.  But  the  special  policy  of 
the  Radical  leaders  has  been  to  divorce  and  estrange 
the  masses  of  the  negroes  from  the  white  population 
representing  the  capital  of  their  respective  communi 
ties,  through  the  forcible  interposition  of  alien 
agents  supported  by  the  military  authorities,  so 
that  all  equilibrium  of  interests  has  been  destroyed, 
and  to  the  negroes,  being  numerically  the  stronger 
party,  have  been  given  practically  the  control  in  all 
matters  of  legislation. 

I  believe  that  the  people  of  the  country  are  be 
ginning  to  see  through  these  mischievous  preten 
sions  of  the  radical  leaders,  and  to  understand  that 
the  Democratic  party  now,  as  in  the  past,  is  the 
party  of  rational  liberality,  not  only  on  direct  ques 
tions  of  suffrage,  but  upon  all  questions  which  affect 
the  laboring  masses  of  the  country.  Upon 
questions  of  suffrage,  taxation,  payment  of  the  bonds, 
the  banks  and  the  currency,  the  radical  party  is 
largely  supported  by,  and  in  return  supports  the  de 
mands  of  capital,  with  but  little  regard  for  the  in 
terests  or  welfare  of  the  laboring  classes.  The 
Democratic  party  now,  and  in  the  future,  whilst  it 


SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.  129 

will  concede  to  capital  all  it  can  legitimately  de 
mand,  will  jealously  and  fearlessly  guard  the  rights 
and  claims  of  labor,  against  its  power  and  encroach 
ments.  At  no  time  in  the  history  of  the  country 
have  democratic  principles  been  so  essential  for  the 
interests  and  happiness  of  the  masses  of  the  people 
as  now. 

I  have  thus  attempted,  briefly,  to  point  to  the  mis 
chievous  and  and  disorganizing  policy  of  the  radical 
leaders,  and  to  expose  some  of  the  pretexts  under 
which  they  have  attempted  to  justify  their  acts  with 
the  people  of  the  North.  Language  is  inadequate  to 
express  the  misery  and  demoralization  which  the 
perpetuation  of  their  rule  must  inevitably  bring  to 
the  people  of  the  country. 

History  records  no  such  wonderful  achievements 
as  have  been  witnessed  in  the  experience  of  this 
country  in  the  past.  For  nearly  a  century,  all  the 
vast  and  varied  interests  of  this  great  Continent, 
excepting  the  narrow  belt  on  its  northern  border, 
have  been  made  to  fully  harmonize  under  a  wise 
and  beneficent  system  of  reciprocity,  maintained  and 
protected  by  the  checks  and  balances  provided  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  Union.  Originally,  in  all 
essential  characteristics  two  nationalities,  expand 
ing  with  the  developements  of  the  West  and  Pacific 
slope,  into  four,  we  have  maintained  a  Union  politi 
cally,  and  a  complete  co-operation  of  resources  ma 
terially.  In  our  later  history  the  rich  Pacific 


130  SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

section  has  poured  into  our  coffers  wealth,  from  its 
mines  of  the  precious  metals,  and  from  its  agricul 
ture.  The  great  West  has  supplied  largely  to  the 
South,  from  its  fertile  prairies,  cereals  for  the  sup 
port  of  its  population  engaged  in  a  more  profitable 
culture,  and  has  found  a  generous  market  at  the 
East.  The  Eastern  and  Middle  sections,  from  their 
mines  and  manufactories  have  helped  largely  to  sup 
ply  to  the  people  of  the  other  sections  their  neces 
sary  utenstls  and  fabrics,  and  from  their  manufactu 
ring  communities  to  support  a  large  agricultural 
population  at  home.  The  South,  from  profitable 
crops  of  its  important  staple,  has  not  only  fed  all 
the  manufactories  of  fabrics  at  the  East,  but  has 
been  our  great  representative  of  wealth  abroad. 
All  these  immense  and  diverse  interests,  under  our 
wonderful  Constitutional  system,  have  been  made  to 
fully  co-operate,  and  together  they  have  created  the 
prosperity  which  characterized  the  Country  at  the 
commencement  of  the  war.  The  great  interests  of 
neither  of  these  Sections  can  be  prostrated  without 
the  whole  Country  feeling  the  shock. 

The  productions  of  no  Section  have  contributed 
more  in  the  past,  nor  are  so  essential  to-day,  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  whole  Country,  and  especially  for 
that  portion  of  it  in  which  our  lot  is  cast,  as  those 
of  the  South.  The  cotton  of  that  section,  if  not 
King,  has  been  the  source  of  immense  wealth  to  the 
Country,  and  without  it,  New  England  prosperity  is 


SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.  131 

a  thing  of  the  past.  If  the  extensive  cultivation  of 
this  staple  is  not  revived,  and  that  speedily,  the 
manufacture  of  cotton  fabrics  in  this  section  must 
be  abandoned.  Already  Europe,  impelled  by  neces 
sity,  has  caused  its  extensive  cultivation  in  India  and 
Egypt,  and  although  the  plant  there  grown  is  not  of 
so  good  an  average  fibre  as  that  of  the  South,  yet 
from  it,  with  improved  machinery,  the  best  of  fab 
rics  are  woven.  With,  or  without  protective  duties, 
the  manufacturers  of  England  can  compete  success 
fully  with  the  manufacturers  of  the  United  States, 
not  only  abroad,  but  in  our  own  markets.  Cheap 
cotton  at  the  South  is  the  only  salvation  to  our 
manufacturers.  If  that  never  comes,  our  factories 
will  be  closed,  our  manufacturing  population  will  be 
compelled  elsewhere,  and  in  other  occupations,  to 
seek  a  living,  our  commerce  will  continue  to  be  de 
pressed,  and  our  agricultural  population  deprived  of 
a  home  market  for  their  produce,  will  eke  a  scanty 
subsistence  from  their  labor  in  the  fields. 

But  these  calamities  may  be  averted.  With 
statesmanship  in  the  councils  of  the  General  Govern 
ment — with  a  united  will  on  the  part  of  the  people  to 
make  all  mere  partisan  considerations  subordinate 
to  a  fixed  determination  of  fully  restoring  the  Union, 
and  of  repairing  what  the  ravages  of  war  have  pros, 
trated — much,  perhaps  all,  may  yet  be  saved.  Bring 
back  the  country  to  the  rule  of  the  Constitution — 
reduce  the  expenditures  of  the  government  to  ap- 


132  SPEE CH  AT  MANCHESTER. 

propriations  only  for  constitutional  purposes — re 
quire  rigid  economy  and  the  simplicity  of  the  early 
days  of  the  republic  in  the  management  of  the  af 
fairs  of  the  General  Government — disband  the  army 
that  is  now  quartered  on  the  South — abolish  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau  and  other  expensive  and  unnec 
essary  Departments  which  are  supported  on  the 
substance  of  the  people — reduce  the  expenses  of 
collecting  the  revenues — dismiss  the  force  of  super 
numerary  office-holders,  more  voracious  and  destruc 
tive  than  were  the  locusts  of  Egypt — reinvest  the 
States  with  the  rights  that  have  been  torn  from 
them — reassert  local  self-government — trust  the  peo 
ple — and  confidence  will  be  restored;  enterprise 
and  energy  will  awaken  at  the  South,  business  will 
revive,  and  all  the  great  interests  of  the  country  re 
ceive  an  immense  and  lasting  impulse. 

But,  Mr.  President,  I  should  do  injustice  to  my 
feelings  if  I  should  close  without  turning  from  a  dis 
cussion  of  the  material  and  political  affairs  of  the 
country,  to  express  the  sympathy  I  feel  for  the  op 
pressed  and  down-trodden  white  population  of  the 
Southern  section  of  our  common  country,  in  this 
hour  of  their  terrible  trial.  My  heart  bleeds  to« 
night  for  the  millions  of  our  own  flesh  and  blood, 
united  to  us  by  kindred  ties  and  the  recollections 
and  deeds  of  a  glorious  past — brave  men,  defenceless 
women  and  children,  suffering  a  slavery  at  the  hands 
of  our  own  people,  which,  if  perpetuated,  will  be 


SPEECH  AT  MANCHESTER.  133 

worse  to  them  than  death.  May  a  wise  and  good 
Providence  give  strength  to  the  friends  of  the  Con 
stitution  and  the  Union  at  the  North,  to  hurl  from 
their  seats  the  authors  of  these  oppressions,  and  to 
place  in  the  councils  of  the  country,  men  of  human 
ity,  men  with  a  patriotism  which  looks  beyond  their 
own  immediate  neighborhoods,  who  will  raise  the 
people  of  the  South  from  their  present  condition, 
and  place  them  on  the  platform  of  equality  to  which 
they  are  entitled  by  nature  and  the  Constitution  of 
the  Country — with  the  hope  that  from  the  gratitude 
of  the  saved  and  the  generous  sentiment  of  the  sav 
iors,  there  may  grow  up  a  new  Union  of  American 
communities — a  Union  in  the  hearts  of  the  people 
of  all  the  sections,  which  shall  bind  them  together  with 
stronger  and  more  enduring  ties  than  the  Union  of 
the  past. 


THE  UNITED   STATES  CONSCRIPTION 
ACT* 


There  has  been  no  act  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment  during  the  present  war,  more  important  in  its 
principles,  or  which  more  directly  affects  our  insti 
tutions  and  the  liberties  of  the  people,  for  the  pres 
ent  and  the  future,  than  the  Conscription  act,  so 
called,  of  the  last  session  of  Congress. 

The  act  asserts  an  authority  in  the  United  States 
Government  to  require  the  military  service  of  every 
able-bodied  man  of  the  country,  in  the  national  force, 
through  compulsion,  for  such  period  of  service,  upon 
such  conditions,  and  under  such  organizations,  as 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  determine. 

It  is  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  country 
that  such  an  authority  has  been  asserted  by  the 
Federal  Government.  It  is  an  assertion  which  per 
sonally  and  most  deeply  interests  every  man  in  the 
country,  capable  of  bearing  arms.  It  is  a  power 
which,  if  sanctioned  and  exercised,  reaches  to,  and 
must  effect  a  material  change  in  the  principles  upon 
which  our  free  institutions  and  system  of  govern- 

*Published  in  the  Boston  Courier,  August  20,  1863. 


THE    CONSCRIPTION  ACT.  135 

ment  have  been  thus  far  conducted. 

It  is  an  assertion  which  demands  the  most  care 
ful  and  critical  consideration,  to  the  end,  that  if  it 
shall  be  found  to  be  in  consonance  with  the  spirit  of 
the  Constitution,  and  the  principles  of  civil  liberty 
which  that  instrument  was  designed  to  protect,  this 
onerous  act,  based  upon  it,  may  receive  the  approval 
and  concurrence  of  the  whole  people,  which  is  indis 
pensable  for  its  successful  execution ;  and  that  if.  on 
the  other  hand,  it  shall  be  proved  to  be  in  violation 
of  the  intentions  of  the  people  when  they  adopted 
the  Constitution,  and  to  be  an  unjustifiable  depar 
ture  from  essential  fundamental  principles  of  our 
government,  the  act  may  be  declared  void  by  the  ju 
dicial  tribunals,  or  repealed  by  the  body  which  pass 
ed  it. 

If  there  is  authority  for  the  act  it  is  contained  in 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States;  The  Con 
stitution  provides  upon  the  subject,  that  Congress 
"Shall  have  power  to  declare  war — to  raise  and  sup 
port  armies — but  no  appropriation  of  money  to  that 
use  shall  be  for  a  loager  time  than  two  years — to 
provide  for  calling  forth  the  militia  to  execute  the 
laws  of  the  Union,  suppress  insurrections  and  repel 
invasions — to  provide  for  organizing,  arming  and 
disciplining  the  militia,  and  for  governing  such  part 
of  them  as  may  be  employed  in  the  service  of  the 
United  States,  reserving  to  the  States  respectively, 
the  appointment  of  the  officers,  and  the  authority  of 


136  THE  CONSCRIPTION  ACT. 

training  the  militia  according  to  the  discipline  pre 
scribed  by  Congress,"  and  further  that  "The  Presi 
dent  shall  be  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  army  and 
navy  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  Militia  of  the 
several  States  when  called  into  the  service  of  the 
United  States.'' 

In  the  Amendments  it  is  provided  that  "A  well 
regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the  security  of 
a  free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to  keep  and 
bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed." 

A  proper  interpretation  of  these  provisions  will 
define  the  limit  of  the  authority  of  the  United 
States  over  the  persons  of  the  citizens,  for  military 
purposes. 

In  the  amendments  to  the  Constitution  it  is  pro 
vided,  that,  "The  powers  not  delegated  to  the  United 
States  by  the  Constitution,  nor  prohibited  by  it  to 
the  States,  are  reserved  to  the  States  respectively, 
or  to  the  people." 

At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
all  powers  of  sovereignty  and  legislation  resided  in 
the  several  States  and  in  the  people.  All  the  pow 
ers  given  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution 
were  taken,  carved,  out  of  these  powers  of  the 
States  and  the  people.  The  rules  of  construction  of 
the  powers  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  States 
and  the  people  are  therefore  not  indentical. 

The  powers  thus  carved  out  are  limited  by  the  ex 
press  words  of  the  grant,  and  are  not  to  be  exten- 


THE  CONSCRIPTION  ACT.  137 

ded  or  determined  in  case  of  doubt,  as  against  the 
powers  of  the  States  and  the  people,  by  process  of 
analogy,  or  by  implication.  What  is  not  clearly 
given  is  reserved. 

What  power,  then,  for  obtaining  men  for  military 
service  is  given  to  the  United  States  by  the  Consti 
tution  ? 

1st.  Exclusive  authority  to  raise  and  maintain  ar 
mies,  restricted  by  the  limitation  of  appropriations 
to  its  use  to  the  term  of  two  years,  and  by  the  pro 
visions  relating  to  the  militia. 

2d.  Authority  to  require  the  aid  of  the  militia  of 
the  States,  to  execute  the  laws  of  the  Union,  sup 
press  insurrections  and  repel  invasions,  but  for  no 
other  purposes,  and  for  terms  of  service  limited  by 
the  exigency  on  which  they  are  called. 

The  Constitution  does  not  define  the  terms  "ar 
mies,"  and  "militia,"  or  the  mode  through  which 
either  force  is  to  be  raised,  for  the  reason  that  both 
terms,  and  the  mode  of  obtaining  the  respective  for 
ces,  were  perfectly  well  understood  by  the  people  at 
the  time  of  its  adoption. 

The  army  was  a  force  established  in  Great  Brit 
ain  before  the  settlement  of  the  colonies.  Upon  the 
decadence  of  the  feudal  system,  the  policy  of  em 
ploying  a  regular  and  permanent  national  force,  or 
standing  army,  was  initiated. 

This  force  was  composed  of  men  obtained,  not  by 
virtue  of  their  obligations  of  allegiance  to  their  sov- 


138  THE  CONSCRIPTION  ACT. 

ereign,  but  by  contract ;  and  contracts  to  serve  in 
this  force  were  made,  not  only  with  those  who  owed 
allegiance,  but  with  aliens.  It  was  a  hired,  or  as  it 
was  sometimes  styled,  mercenary  force,  as  it  was 
con  posed  of  men  who  voluntarily  enlisted  for  the 
pay  they  were  to  receive. 

This  system  has  been  continued  in  Great  Britain 
to  the  present  time  without  change,  and  although 
the  Government  has  been  involved  in  wars  of  the 
greatest  magnitude,  which  threatened  the  integrity 
of  the  empire,  yet  it  never  claimed  an  authority  to 
obtain  men  for  this  force  by  compulsion. 

The  Colonies  adopted  the  same  force,  which  was 
continued  by  the  States,  during  the  Revolutionary 
War.  The  army,  or  regular  army,  during  all  the 
trying  emergencies  of  that  great  struggle,  was  raised 
invariably  by  voluntary  enlistments,  by  contract 
between  the  States  and  those  who  were  willing  to 
serve. 

Early  in  the  history  of  the  Coloties  another  inde 
pendent  force  was  established,  known  as  the  Militia. 
Like  the  army,  it  had  its  origin  in  the  Mother  Coun 
try.  It  had  existed  in  that  country  for  a  long  period, 
and  in  the  17th  century  was,  by  Statute,  defined 
and  systematized. 

"The  general  scheme"  of  which  system,  according 
to  Blackstone,  "is  to  discipline  a  certain  number  of 
the  inhabitants  of  every  county,  chosen  by  lot  for 
three  years,  and  officered  by  the  Lord  Lieutenant, 


THE   CONSCRIPTION  ACT.  139 

the  Deputy  Lieutenants,  and  other  principal  land 
holders,  under  a  commission  from  the  crown.  They 
are  not  compel lable  to  march  out  of  their  counties, 
unless  in  case  of  invasion  or  actual  rebellion  within 
the  realm  (  or  any  of  its  dominions  or  territories,  ) 
nor  in  any  case  compel  lable  to  march  out  of  the 
kingdom.  They  are  to  be  exercised  at  stated  times 
and  their  discipline  in  general,  is  liberal  and  easy ; 
but  when  drawn  out  into  actual  service,  they  are 
subject  to  the  rigors  of  martial  law,  as  necessary  to 
keep  them  in  order.  This  is  the  constitutional  se 
curity  which  our  laws  have  provided  for  the  public 
peace,  and  for  protecting  the  realm  against  foreign 
or  domestic  violence." 

Under  the  system  thus  established  in  this  country 
the  whole  body  of  the  people  of  the  colonies,  or 
States,  were  enrolled,  organized,  and  subjected  to  a 
certain  degree  of  discipline.  From  this  body,  in  the 
event  of  a  sudden  emergency,  a  requisite  force  was 
obtained  by  allotment  or  draft.  The  people  were 
deeply  impressed  with  the  severity  of  the  burdens, 
and  the  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the  people  inci 
dent  to  the  maintenance  of  a  large  standing  army, 
and  adopted  this  system  as  a  substitute.  They  pre 
ferred  to  give  service,  in  the  event  of  an  emergency, 
through  this  mode,  rather  than  to  maintain  at  all 
times  a  large  army ;  and  as  the  exigencies  for  which 
this  force  was  established  would  be  ordinarily  of 
short  duration,  the  people  could  comply  with  its  re- 


140  THE  CONSCRIPTION  ACT. 

quisitions,  without  materially  affecting  their  business 
or  other  private  interests.  And  when  the  exigency 
was  such  as  to  require  the  service  of  this  force  for  a 
long  period  of  time,  it  was  met  by  a  draft  of  a  por 
tion  for  a  brief  period,  ordinarily  for  not  more  than 
three  months,  and  never  exceeding  nine  months, 
whose  places  were  supplied  at  the  expiration  of 
their  period  of  service,  by  an  additional  draft. 

At  the  j;ime  of  the  commencement  of  the  Revolu 
tionary  War,  this  system  was  fully  established  and 
thoroughly  understood  by  the  people ;  and  in  the 
articles  of  Confederation  of  the  several  States,  adop 
ted  in  1777,  after  limiting  the  authority  of  the 
States  to  maintain  regular  forces  in  time  of  peace,  it 
is  provided : 

"But  every  State  shall  always  keep  up  a  well-reg 
ulated  and  disciplined  militia,  sufficiently  armed  and 
accoutred,"  &c. 

During  the  Revolutionary  War,  upon  requisitions 
from  Congress,  quotas  of  militia  were  from  time  to 
time  raised  by  draft,  and  furnished  by  the  several 
States,  for  the  common  cause. 

At  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution, 
therefore,  there  were  two  distinct  and  independent 
military  forces  known  to  and  understood  by,  the 
people. 

The  army,  or  regulars,  composed  of  men  obtained 
by  contract,  through  voluntary  enlistment,  for  long 
periods  of  service,  and  the  militia  composed  of  the 


THE  CONSCRIPTION  ACT. 


body  of  the  people  capable  of  bearing  arms,  at  all 
times  enrolled,  organized  and  disciplined,  to  be 
called  out  in  emergencies,  and  for  brief  periods,  by 
draft.  From  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Con 
stitution  to  the  present  year,  the  army  and  the  mili 
tia  have  been  invariably  raised  and  furnished  in  ac 
cordance  with  these  established  usages. 

Upon  the  happening  of  exigencies  which  entitled 
the  United  States  to  the  services  of  the  militia,  quo 
tas  have  uniformly  been  called  for  by  requisition  of 
the  President  upon  the  Governors  of  the  respective 
States,  as  Commander  s-in-  Chief  of  the  force.  It  has 
never  been  claimed,  even  when,  as  in  the  war  of 
1812,  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts  declined  to  re 
spond  to  a  requisition,  that  the  United  States  could 
require  the  service  of  this  force,  except  through  the 
agency  of  the  officers  of  the  States. 

The  army  has  been,  during  this  period,  as  invaria 
bly  raised  by  voluntary  enlistments.  With  one  ex 
ception,  no  claim  has  ever  been  made  that  it  could 
be  raised  through  any  other  mode.  In  1814  a  suffi 
cient  force  had  not  been  obtained  through  enlist 
ments,  and  a  bill  was  proposed  in  Congress  author 
izing  a  draft  upon  certain  contingencies.  This 
proposition  was  met  with  the  most  uncompromising 
opposition.  It  was  denounced  in  the  'strongest  lan 
guage  by  Daniel  Webster,  Jeremiah  Mason,  Judge 
Dagget,  Gov.  Gore,  and  others,  as  unconstitution 
al,  and  destructive  of  the  liberties  of  the  people. 


142  THE    CONSCRIPTION  ACT. 

It  was  defeated,  and  the  authors  of  it  were  saved 
from  the  effects  of  its  universal  condemnation  by  the 
people,  only  through  the  cessation  of  excitement  on 
the  subject,  which  followed  the  immediate  settlement 
of  the  war. 

The  reason  for  this  distinction  in  the  mode  of  rais 
ing  the  respective  forces  is  obvious.  It  would  be 
wholly  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  the  free  insti 
tutions  of  this  country,  or  of  England,  to  require 
the  citizens  to  make  a  profession  of  arms,  and  to 
abandon  for  a  term  of  years,  their  business  and  other 
important  interests.  It  is  a  power  which  only  the 
most  absolute  governments  have  dared  to  exercise. 

What  disposition  of  these  two  military  forces  did 
the  people  intend  to  make,  in  adopting  the  Consti-  . 
tution  ? 

They  clearly  intended  to  give  the  United  States  ex 
clusive  authority  to  raise  and  maintain  the  army,  in 
tending  to  limit  its  numbers  in  time  of  peace,  by  the 
provision  in  regard  to  appropriations  of  money  to  its 
use ;  and  to  the  respective  States  exclusive  author 
ity  over  the  militia,  excepting  that  it  was  to  be  dis 
ciplined  in  conformity  with  directions  of  Congress, 
and  portions  of  it  lurnished  to  the  United  States  in 
the  event  of  either  of  the  three  exigencies  enumera 
ted  in  the  Constitution.  In  every  other  respect,  and 
for  every  other  legitimate  purpose,  the  militia,  as  a 
military  force,  was  reserved  to  the  several  States, 


THE    CONSCRIPTION  ACT.  143 

as  the  guardians  of  their  respective  powers  and  sov 
ereignties.  The  people  were  extremely  jealous  of 
the  powers  given  to  the  General  Government  by  the 
Constitution,  and  desired  to  adopt  every  precaution 
to 'prevent  the  General  Government  from  overriding 
or  absorbing  the  powers  reserved  to  the  States. 
This  is  apparent,  not  only  from  the  debates  in  the 
Convention  which  framed  it,  but  from  the  debates 
in  the  Conventions  of  the  people  in  the  several 
States,  assembled  for  its  ratification. 

So  profoundly  were  the  people  impressed  with  the 
importance  of  this  subject,  that,  although  the  origi 
nal  Constitution  was  sufficiently  explicit,  under  any 
proper  rules  of  construction,  upon  the  question  of 
the  reserved  powers  of  the  States  and  their  right 
to  maintain  the  militia,  Congress  at  its  first  session, 
upon  the  recommendation  of  different  States,  through 
resolutions  passed  when  they  ratified  the  Constitu 
tion,  initiated  the  amendments,  which  were  subse 
quently  adopted,  asserting  that  "the  powers  not  del 
egated  to  the  United  States  by  the  Constitution,  nor 
prohibited  by  it  to  the  States,  are  reserved  to  the 
States  respectively,  or  to  the  people,"  and  that : 

UA  well  regulated  militia  being  necessary  to  the 
security  of  a  free  State,  the  right  of  the  people  to 
keep  and  bear  arms  shall  not  be  infringed." 

It  is  very  clear  that  the  people  not  only  intended  to 
reserve  important  authority  in  the  States,  but  also 
the  power  to  vindicate  and  protect  such  authority. 


144  THE    CONSCRIPTION  ACT. 

In  the  Convention  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
which  ratified  the  Constitution,  the  importance  of 
these  reserved  rights  in  the  States  was  fully  discuss 
ed,  and  the  dangers  to  be  apprehended  from  the 
power  of  the  United  States,  under  the  proposed 
Constitution  amply  considered. 

Chief  Justice  Parsons  was  a  member  of  the  Con 
vention,  from  Newburyport,  and  in  favor  of  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution.  In  an  able  argument  he 
vindicated  the  powers  of  the  States  under  the  pro 
posed  instrument.  He  said : 

"The  oath  the  several  legislative,  executive  and 
judicial  officers  of  the  several  States  take  to  support 
the  Federal  Constitution,  is  as  effectual  a  security 
against  the  usurpation  of  the  General  Government  as 
it  is  against  the  encroachment  of  the  State  govern 
ments.  For  an  increase  of  the  powers  by  usurpa 
tion,  is  as  clearly  a  violation  of  the  Federal  Consti 
tution,  as  a  diminution  of  these  powers  by  private 
encroachment — and  that  the  oath  obliges  the  officers 
of  the  several  States  as  vigorously  to  oppose  the 
one  as  the  other.  But  there  is  another  check  foun 
ded  in  the  nature  of  the  Union,  superior  to  all  the 
parchment  checks  that  can  be  invented.  If  there 
should  be  an  usurpation  it  will  not  be  upon  the  far 
mer  and  merchant,  employed  and  attentive  only  to 
their  several  occupations,  it  will  be  upon  thirteen 
legislatures,  completely  organized,  possessed  of  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  and  having  the  means  as 


THE    CONSCRIPTION  ACT.  145 

well  as  inclination,  successfully  to  oppose  it.  Under 
these  circumstances,  none  but  madmen  would  attempt 
an  usurpation.  But,  sir,  the  people  themselves  have 
it  in  their  power  effectually  to  resist  usurpation, 
without  being  driven  to  an  appeal  to  arms.  An  act 
of  usurpation  is  not  obligatory,  it  is  not  law,  and 
any  man  may  be  justified  in  his  resistance.  But  let 
him  be  considered  as  a  criminal  by  the  General 
Government,  yet  only  his  own  fellow  citizens  can 
convict  him — they  are  his  jury,  and  if  they  pro 
nounce  him  innocent,  not  all  the  powers  of  Congress 
can  hurt  him ;  and  innocent  they  certainly  will  pro 
nounce  him,  if  the  supposed  law  he  resisted  was  an 
act  of  usurpation."  It  may  appear  strange  to  some 
that  it  did  not  occur  to  this  eminent  jurist  that  the 
citizen  in  such  a  crisis  might  be  deprived  of  the 
benefits  of  a  trial,  under  the  plea  of  military  ne 
cessity. 

Under  the  Constitution,  the  several  States  have 
various  and  important  powers,  entirely  independent 
of  the  control  of  the  General  Government,  and 
within  the  sphere  of  their  exclusive  jurisdictions 
they  are  supreme  to  the  same  extent  that  the  United 
States  is,  in  the  exercise  •  of  the  exclusive  powers 
with  which  it  is  clothed. 

If  States  or  the  people  undertake  to  obstruct  the 
lawful  authority  of  the  United  States  Government, 
that  Government  is  invested  with  a  power,  and  it 
becomes  its  duty,  to  forcibly  protect  its  authority, 


146  THE    CONSCRIPTION   ACT. 

and  if  the  United  States  Government  attempts  to 
usurp  any  of  the  powers  of  the  States,  or  to  ille 
gally  interfere  -with  the  rights  of  their  citizens,  they 
have  a  force  under  their  command,  and  it  becomes 
their  duty,  to  defend  their  threatened  rights  and  au 
thority. 

The  success  of  our  system  of  Government  has 
always  depended,  and  must  always  depend,  upon 
the  strict  maintenance  of  the  equilibrium  of  author 
ities  created  and  recognized  by  the  Constitution. 
If  the  authority  of  the  United  States  shall  be  over 
thrown,  then  the  whole  system  falls  to  the  ground ; 
and  if  the  powers  of  the  States  shall  be  wrested 
from  them,  the  same  catastrophe  must  follow.  It  is 
indispensable  for  the  safety  of  our  institutions,  that 
those  representing  the  respective  powers  established 
by  the  Constitution  jealously  guard  those  powers 
against  all  encroachments.  Our  institutions  and  our 
liberties  are  to  be  preserved  by  performing,  and  re 
quiring  performance  of,  all  the  obligations  imposed 
by  the  Constitution,  and  not  by  any  reliance  upon 
the  infallibility  of  men. 

Men,  however  honest  we  may  believe  them  to  be, 
may  change  or  be  changed.  The  tendency  of  power 
is  never  to  curtail,  but  invariably  to  extend  its  pre 
rogatives.  This  is  a  necessary  result  of  the  prin 
ciples  of  man's  nature,  and  the  best  men  are  not 
proof  against  this  influence.  Therefore,  those  in 
power  are  never  impartial  judges  upon  the  question 


THE    CONSCRIPTION   ACT.  147 

of  the  just  limits  of  their  authority.  It  is  only 
through  independent  tribunals  that  its  limits  can  be 
properly  defined,  and  through  the  remonstrance  of 
those  who  must  suffer  from  its  encroachments,  and 
have  the  power  to*  resist,  that  it  is  to  be  restrained 
within  its  legitimate  boundaries. 

Such  is  a  brief  sketch  of  the  history  of  the  army 
and  the  militia — of  the  established  usages  in  the 
employment  of  each — of  the  distribution  of  these 
forces  under  the  Constitution,  and  the  importance 
of  these  distributions  to  the  preservation  of  our  po 
litical  system. 

It  is  now  important  to  enquire,  whether,  indepen 
dent  of  questions  of  expediency,  Congress  has  au 
thority  under  the  Constitution,  to  require,  by  com 
pulsion,  the  service  of  the  body  of  the  people  in 
the  army,  or  national  forces  of  the  United  States. 

No  rules  of  construction,  applicable  to  the  limited 
powers  of  the  General  Government,  in  the  absence  of 
express  provisions  prescribing  the  mode  of  raising 
armies,  will  authorize  a  departure  from  existing 
modes,  established  by  long  and  invariable  usage,  es 
pecially  when  such  an  innovation  cannot  be  execu 
ted  without  seriously  affecting  the  dearest  and  most 
important  personal  rights  of  the  people. 

The  usages  in  regard  to  the  raising  of  armies,  as 
has  been  shown,  had  been  uniform,  for  centuries  be 
fore  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  and  the  con 
struction  of  the  sections  of  the  Constitution  author- 


148  THE    CONSCRIPTION   ACT. 

izing  this  force,  has  been  for  nearly  eighty  years 
under  that  instrument,  strictly  in  accordance  with 
these  usages. 

But,  further,  the  Constitution  practically  takes 
from  the  United  States  the  power  to  require  the 
military  service  of  the  body  of  the  people  in  the 
army,  through  compulsion,  in  its  clear  and  uncontro- 
verted  provisions  regarding  the  militia.  It  specially 
recognizes  the  existence  of  this  force,  and  provides 
for  its  maintenance.  This  force  could  never  be  ma 
terially  affected  by  voluntary  enlistments  in  the 
army;  but  if  the  United  States  has  authority  to 
compel  the  body  of  the  people,  who  compose  the 
militia,  into  the  army/  is  it  not  clearly  a  power 
which  may  be  entirely  destructive  of  the  militia,  and 
consequently  of  the  power  of  the  States  ? 

Therefore,  the  claim  on  the  part  of  Congress  of 
an  authority  to  draft  the  body  of  the  people  into  the 
Federal  Army,  is  not  only  without  any  express  au 
thority  in  the  Constitution,  and  opposed  to  estab 
lished  usages,  but  can  only  be  carried  into  practical 
effect  through  such  encroachments  upon  the  estab 
lished  usages  upon  which  another  and  important 
force  is  established  by  the  Constitution,  in  which  the 
several  States  have  an  iodependent  and  vital  inter 
est,  as  to  practically  destroy  that  force. 

But  it  is  asserted  by  some,  that  the  Constitution 
may  be  construed  to  admit  of  a  concurrent  power  in 
the  United  States  and  the  several  States,  over  the 


THE    CONSCRIPTION   ACT.  149 

body  of  the  people  for  their  respective  forces. :  This 
claim  is  equally  unsupported  by  express  grant,  usage, 
or  our  practice  under  the  Constitution.  It  is  also 
clearly  impossible,  from  the  nature  of  things,  that 
any  such  authority  could  have  been  intended.  It  is 
an  assertion  that  the  people  intended  to  give  concur 
rent  power  to  two  governments,  over  the  same  per 
sons,  which  would  inevitably  result  in  direct  conflict. 
If  the  United  States  has  concurrent  power  with  the 
respective  States  to  enroll  and  draft  the  body  of  the 
people,  the  one  into  the  army  and  the  other  into  the 
militia,  and  in  the  exercise  of  it  both  make  a  draft, 
and  the  same  person  or  persons  are  drawn  by  both 
authorities,  which  will  have  the  paramount  right  ? 
Or  will  it  be  claimed  that  the  authority  which  first 
drafts  the  individual  will  be  entitled  to  his  service  ? 
If  this  is  so,  and  a  conflict  between  the  two  author 
ities  should  spring  up,  a  simultaneous  attempt  would 
be  made  to  secure  the  force.  If  the  United  States 
should  order  a  dj?aft  of  the  entire  body,  and  perfect 
it  in  advance  of  the  State,  where,  then,  is  the  power 
of  the  State,  and  its  militia  ?  and  if  the  State  should 
be  in  advance  of  the  General  Government  in  the 
draft,  what  has  become  of  the  power  of  the  General 
Government  over  the  men  it  has  enrolled  ?  It  is  ab 
surd  to  suppose  that  any  such  dangerous  concurrent 
power  could  have  been  intended. 

It  is  further  asserted,  under  the  fashionable  doc 
trines  that  have  of  late  been  prevalent,  that  the  ne- 


150  THE    CONSCRIPTION  ACT. 

cessities  of  the  present  exigency  authorize  the  exer 
cise  of  such  extraordinary  power.  No  more  perni 
cious  or  dangerous  doctrine  was  ever  entertained  by 
a  free  people.  But  if  this  doctrine  were  admissible, 
is  it  supported  by  the  facts  ?  The  power  to  enlarge 
the  army  by  increased  pay  or  bounties,  is  not  ex 
hausted.  The  United  States  Government  has  a 
right  to  require  the  aid  of  the  militia  to  an  indefinite 
extent,  which,  reasoning  from  past  experience  in  this 
war,  and  upon  the  presumptions  arising  from  legal 
obligation,  will  be  promptly  furnished  upon  requisi 
tion.  The  people  will  readily  respond  to  a  call  to 
this  s  ervice,  as  they  will  feel  it  is  a  duty  they  clear 
ly  owe  to  the  Government.  They  will  not  feel  op 
pressed  by  the  demand,  as  they  know  the  limits  of 
that  service,  and  that  they  can  perform  their  obliga 
tions  in  the  company  of  their  neighbors  and  friends, 
and  under  officers  from  their  vicinage,  who  will  feel 
a  personal  interest  arid  ambition  in  their  comfort  and 
welfare.  They  will  also  feel,  that  in  the  event  of  an 
illegal  demand  by  the  United  States,  or  an  attempt 
to  exercise  an  unauthorized  power  over  them,  they 
can  rely  upon  the  authorities  of  their  State  for  pro 
tection.  Besides,  the  militia  is  the  very  force  espe. 
cially  provided  by  the  Constitution  for  such  an  exi 
gency  as  the  present.  Blackstone,  in  the  extract 
above  quoted,  says  of  the  miiitia,  in  England : 

"This  is  the  constitutional  security  which  our  laws 
have  provided  for  the  public  peace,  and  for  protect- 


THE  CONSCRIPTION  ACT.  151 

ing  the  realm  against  foreign  or  domestic  violence." 
The  militia  in  this  country  is  the  constitutional 
security  which  our  Constitution  has  provided  for  the 
public  peace,  and  for  protecting  the  G-overnment 
against  foreign  and  domestic  violence.  So  long  as  it 
exists  can  it  be  said  that  there  is  an  exigency  for  a 
military  force  which  the  Constitution  has  not  provi 
ded  for  ? 

Independent  of  the  service  of  the  militia,  under 
the  extraordinary  calls  that  have  been  made  on  the 
people  for  voluntary  enlistments  during  the  past  two 
years,  there  has  been  such  a  ready  and  willing  re 
sponse  as  was  never  before  made  in  this,  or  in  any 
other  country.  Why,  then,  is  it  to  be  assumed  that 
the  same  spirit  will  not  continue  ?  Is  it  because  a 
majority  of  the  people  believe  that  the  principles 
upon  which  the  war  is  being  waged  by  the  adminis 
tration,  will  prove  destructive  of  our  institutions  ? 
If  so,  then  the  administration  should  defer  to  the 
will  of  the  people.  No  war  should  be  waged  by  an 
administration,  in  a  republic,  against  the  opinions  of 
a  majority  of  the  people.  Is  it  upon  the  ground 
that  the  administration  intends,  upon  the  principles 
it  has  asserted,  to  prosecute  the  war  on  such  an  un 
precedented  and  gigantic  scale,  that  the  modes  es 
tablished  by  the  wisdom  of  the  past  fail  of  meeting 
its  requirements  ?  Then  is  it  not  its  duty  to  con 
sult,  instead  of  compelling,  the  people  ?  Is  it  for  the 
purpose  of  consolidating  all  power,  civil  and  mili- 


152  THE    CONSCRIPTION  .ACT. 

tary,  in  the  United  States,  regardless  of  the  consti 
tutional  rights  of  the  States  ?  If  so  the  people  will 
never  permit  it. 

The  modes  of  raising  military  forces  provided  by 
the  Constitution  are  sufficient  for  the  prosecution  of 
any  war  that  ought  to  be  prosecuted,  and  an  Ad 
ministration  takes  upon  itself  a  fearful  responsibil 
ity,  and  one  for  which  in  the  end  it  must  answer  to 
the  people,  when,  in  its  own  discretion,  it  oversteps 
the  bounds  prescribed  by  the  fathers  for  the  protec 
tion  of  the  liberties  of  the  people,  and  compels  by 
its  power,  the  citizen  to  perform  a  military  service, 
•which  the  Constitution  and  laws  do  not  require. 

The  powers  asserted  in  the  Conscription  Act  are 
clear  and  intelligible.  In  the  first  section  it  is  pro 
vided, 

"That  all  able-bodied  male  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  and  persons  of  foreign  birth  who  shall  have 
declared  on  oath  their  intention  to  become  citizens 
under  and  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  thereof,  between 
the  ages  of  twenty  and  fort j  -five  years,  except  as 
hereinafter  excepted,  are  hereby  declared  to  consti 
tute  the  national  forces,  and  shall  be  liable  to  per 
form  military  duty  in  the  service  of  the  United  States 
when  called  out  by  the  President  for  that  purpose." 

In  section  eleven  it  is  provided, 

"That  all  persons  thus  enrolled  shall  be  subject 
for  two  years  after  the  first  day  of  July  succeeding 
the  enrollment,  to  be  called  into  the  military  service 


THE    CONSCRIPTION  ACT.  153 

of  the  United  States,  and  to  continue  in  service 
during  the  present  rebellion,  not  however  exceeding 
the  term  of  three  years." 

In  section  thirty-four  it  is  provided, 

"That  all  persons  drafted  under  the  provisions  of 
this  Act  shall  be  assigned  by  the  President  to  mili 
tary  duty  in  such  corps,  regiments,  or  other  branches 
of  the  service,  as  the  exigencies  of  the  service  may 
require." 

Now.  what  is  the  authority  asserted  in  this  'act  ? 
Under  it  Congress  has  not  claimed,  in  terms,  the 
right  to  compel  the  service  of  the  militia  as  such, 
independent  of  State  agencies;  nor  has  it  claimed 
the  right,  in  terms,  to  compel  militia  men,  as  such, 
into  the  army  of  the  United  States.  These  would 
have  been  too  plainly  expressed  usurpations  oi 
power.  But  the  act  does  assert  the  right  in  Con 
gress  to  enrol  every  man  of  the  militia,  in  every 
State  of  the  Union,  in  the  National  force,  and  to 
compel  his  service  in  the  army  of  the  United  States. 

The  militia  is  repeatedly  recognized  in  the  act 
itself,  and  reference  is  made  to  the  services  of  this 
force  in  the  present  war ;  yet  the  act  asserts  author 
ity  in  the  United  States  to  take,  by  force,  every  en 
rolled  militia  man  in  the  country,  and  compel  him 
into  the  exclusive  service  of  the  United  States,  as  a 
member  of  the  national  force  or  army. 

This  act  is  an  assertion  of  a  right  in  the  United 
States  to  completely  annihilate  the  militia  of  the 


154  THE    CONSCRIPTION   ACT. 

States — to  leave  the  States  as  such  entirely  power 
less  and  defenceless.  If  authoritative,  it  is  a  virtual 
and  complete  destruction  of  all  State  authority  and 
power.  It  leaves  to  the  several  States  the  empty 
form  of  a  government,  shorn  of  all  power  in  itself  of 
enforcing  its  laws,  protecting  its  citizens,  or  resist 
ing  unlawful  demands  from  abroad.  The  assertion 
does  not  even  admit  a  concurrent  power  in  the 
States.  No  reservation  whatever  is  made  of  the 
militia  or  any  portion  of  them.  With  one  fell  swoop 
they  are  all  gathered  up  in  the  several  States,  and 
forcibly  transferred  to  the  exclusive  authority  of  the 
United  States. 


DOES  THE  BIBLE  SANCTION  AMERI 
CAN  SLAVERY?* 


WE  have  read,  with  much  interest,  a  book  written 
by  Gold  win  Smith,  more  than  a  year  since,  upon  the 
question,  Does  the  Bible  sanction  American  Slavery  ? 
also  an  able  article  sustaining  the  views  of  the 
author,  published  in  the  last  January  number  of  the 
North  American  Review. 

Gold  win  Smith  is  a  professor  in  Oxford  Univer 
sity,  England,  and  a  member  of  the  most  intellectual 
class  of  the  school  of  philanthropists.  The  North 
American  Review  is  an  able  exponent  of  the  anti- 
slavery  sentiment  of  this  country. 

The  theories  laid  down  in  the  book  are  in  the 
main  sound,  the  admissions  of  principles  clear  and 
distinct,  and  but  few  of  the  deductions  of  the  author, 
are  open  to  criticism,  except  from  the  poverty  or 
unsoundness  of  the^  statements  of  facts  on  which  they 
are  based. 

*Does  the  Bible  sanction  American  Slavery?  By  Goldwin, 
Smith.  Cambridge  :  Sever  &  Francis.  1863. 

Review  of  the  above-entitled  book  of  Gold  win  Smith,  in  the 
North  American  Review,  January,  1864. 

Published  in  the  American  Monthly  Magazine,  January,  1865 


156  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

The  admissions  of  both  these  writers  are  entitled 
to  great  consideration,  for,  if  true,  they  determine 
grave  questions,  upon  which  the  minds  of  large  num 
bers  of  our  people  have  been  perplexed  in  the  atten 
tion  they  have  given  to  the  subject. 

There  are  many  persons  at  the  North  who  con 
scientiously  believe  that  slavery,  or  the  involuntary 
personal  subordination  of  one  man  to  another,  or  of 
one  class  of  men  to  another,  is  prohibited  by  the 
Bible ;  and  that,  consequently,  it  is  necessarily  sinful 
for  one  man,  under  any  circumstances,  to  hold 
another  in  slavery.  There  are  others  at  the  North 
who,  admitting  that  slavery  is  not,  under  all  circum 
stances,  forbidden  by  the  Bible  as  sinful,  yet  consci 
entiously  believe  that  the  system  of  servitude,  as  it 
exists  in  the  Southern  States,  is  based  upon  a  gross 
violation  of  divine  laws.  Under  these  convictions, 
with  erroneous  views  of  their  relations  to,  and  re 
sponsibility  for,  the  supposed  wrong  under  our  sys 
tem  of  government,  both  classes  attempt  to  justify 
themselves  in  subordinating  every  other  considera. 
tion  and  interest  to  that  of  eradicating  from  the 
country  this  sinful  system. 

We  believe  that  no  accurate  student  of  the  Bible 
will  contend  that  slavery  is  therein  forbidden,  and 
no. one  with  a  knowledge  of  mankind,  and  of  God's 
providences  and  His  dealings  with  humanity,  will 
come  rationally  to  the  conclusion  that  the  holding 
of  human  beings  in  involuntary  servitude  is,  neces- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  157 

sarily,  and  under  all  circumstances,  a  transgression 
of  any  of  God's  general  laws. 

It  is  of  primary  importance  to  determine  upon  the 
correctness  or  falsity  of  these  propositions,  before 
we  proceed  to  a  consideration  of  the  rightfulness  or 
wrongfulness  of  any  particular  system  of  slavery. 
Because,  if  slavery  is  necessarily  and  under  all  cir 
cumstances  sinful,  then  no  system  founded  on  it  can, 
under  any  circumstances,  be  justified.  But  if  slavery, 
under  some  circumstances,  and  with  certain  lim 
itations,  is  not  sinful,  then  it  becomes  important,  in 
the  consideration  of  any  particular  system,  to  first 
examine  and  ascertain  in  what  respects,  if  any,  it 
transcends  the  boundaries  of  human  expediency,  and 
trenches  upon  the  immutable  principles  of  the  divine 
laws. 

Does,  then,  the  Bible  forbid  slavery,  or  is  the  in- 
voluntary  personal  subordination  of  one  man  to 
another  sinful,  under  all  circumstances? 

Under  the  Levitical  law,  the  Hebrews  were  ex 
pressly  authorized  to  hold  slaves.  They  were  re 
stricted  by  that  law  in  the  enslavement  of  their  own 
people,  the  children  of  Israel,  who  were  the  chosen 
people  of  God.  The  command  was:  "Both  thy 
bondmen  and  thy  bondmaids,  which  thou  shalt  have, 
shall  be  of  the  heathen  that  are  round  about  you :  of 
them  shall  ye  buy  bondmen  and  bondmaids.  More 
over,  of  the  children  of  the  strangers  that  do  sojourn 
among  you,  of  them  shall  ye  buy,  and  of  their  fami- 


158  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

lies  that  are  with  you,  which  they  begat  in  your 
land;  and  they  shall  be  your  possession.  And  ye 
shall  take  them  as  an  inheritance  for  your  children 
after  you,  to  inherit  them  for  a  possession ;  they  shall 
be  your  bondmen  forever :  but  over  your  brethren, 
the  children  of  Israel,  ye  shall  not  rule  over  one 
another  with  rigor."  Under  this  law  the  Hebrews 
held  slaves,  and  Abraham  himself  had  servants  not 
only  "  born  in  his  house,"  but  "  bought  with  his 
money."  This  system  was  continued  through  all 
the  nations  of  antiquity,  and  existed  in  Greece  and 
Rome  in  the  time  of  Christ  and  His  apostles. 
Christ  did  not  at  any  time  attempt  to  interfere 
with  the  system,  and  nowhere  forbade  it.  He  re 
cognized  the  political  and  social  institutions  which 
existed  in  the  world  based  upon  the  fact  of  the  in 
equalities  of  the  human  raco.  Pie  interfered  with 
none  of  them.  He  proposed  no  system  to  regulate 
the  affairs  of  society,  or  the  relations  between  men. 
His  mission  was  to  the  individual,  to  improve  and 
elevate  him,  through  the  silent  and  beneficent  influ 
ences  of  the  religion  He  taught.  His  object  was  the 
gradual  advancement  of  mankind,  and  a  consequent 
modification  of  systems  and  correction  of  abuses. 

The  teachings  of  the  Bible  upon  the  subject  of 
slavery  are  plainly  admitted  by  Professor  Smith. 
He  says : 

"  It  is  true  that  the  Old  Testament  distinctly  recognizes  slavery 
as  a  Hebrew  institution.  It  is  also  true  that  the  New  Testament 
speaks  of  slavery  in  several  passages,  and  does  not  condemn  it." 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  159 

Upon  the  question  whether  all  men  are  entitled  to 
political  and  personal  liberty,  Professor  Smith  says : 

"The  authors  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  on  which  the 
American  Constitution  for  the  Slave  as  well  the  Free  States 
is  founded,  say :  '  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident :  that 
all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed  by  their  Cre 
ator  with  certain  unalienablo  rights  ;  that  among  these  are  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  o'f  happiness ;  and  that  to  secure  these 
rights,  governments  are  instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just 
powers  from  the  consent  of  the  governed.'  Supposing  the  negro 
to  be  a  man,  the  slave-owners  who  have  set  their  hands  to  these 
sentiments  have  pronounced  the  doom  ot  their  own  institution,  and 
saved  its  adversaries  further  trouble.  But  it  must,  in  fairness  to 
them,  be  owned  that  they  have  set  their  hands  to  too  much.  It  can 
scarcely  be  held  that  liberty,  political  or  personal,  is  the  inalienable 
right  of  every  human  being.  Children  possess  neither  political 
nor  personal  liberty  till  they  arrive  at  what  the  law,  a  law  which 
they  had  no  share  in  making,  pronounces  to  be  years  of  discretion. 
Women  have  no  political  liberties,  and  married  women  have  per 
sonal  liberties  only  of  a  very  qualified  kind.  Under  despotic  gov 
ernments,  the  immorality  of  which  can  scarcely  be  held  in  all  cases 
self-evident,  no  one  has  political  liberty.  Even  under  constitution 
al  governments,  where  the  suffrage  is  limited,  as  it  is  to  some  ex 
tent  in  most  of  those  which  are  commonly  called  free  countries,  the 
unenfranchised  classes  are  as  destitute  of  political  liberty  as  the 
subjects  of  a  despotism.  The  political  power  which  commands 
their  obedience  is  vested,  it  is  true,  in  a  great  number  of  hands, 
and  is  on  that  account  more  controlled  by  the  influence  of  opin 
ions,  and  less  liable  to  gross  abuse ;  but  it  commands  their  obe 
dience  as  absolutely  and  as  irrespectively  of  their  own  consent,  as 
though  it  were  that  of  a  despotic  prince.  The  equality  between 
man  and  man  en  which  this  indefeasible  elaim  to  political  and  per 
sonal  liberty  is  founded,  is  in  truth  rather  a  metaphysical  notion 
than  a  fact.1' 

Upon  the  same  subject,  the  writer  in  the  North 
American  Review  says : 


160  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

"  Servitude,  therefore,  or  the  subjection  of  man  to  man,  does  not 
contradict  the  laws  of  nature.  It  represents  the  relation  of  weak 
ness  to  strength.  It  has  existed  in  all  nations  at  some  period  of 
their  growth.  The  condition  of  its  presence  is  the  existence  of  a 
class  unfit  to  enjoy  personal  liberty,  or  the  want  of  power  in  gov 
ernment  to  protect  the  rights  of  individuals  ;  for  personal  liberty  is 
a  right  for  those  who  can  use  it  without  injury  to  themselves  or 
others.  In  the  former  case,  personal  liberty  may  be  denied  or  re 
stricted  by  law,  and  according  to  the  necessity  for  that  law,  its 
humanity  and  justice,  will  the  government  that  makes  it  be 
judged." 

And  further : 

"  There  are  two  kinds  of  liberty — political  and  personal.  The 
former  consists  in  a  share  of  political  power.  To  gain  it,  to  keep 
it,  and  to  exercise  it  for  the  the  good  of  society,  implies  a  degree  of 
intelligence  never  possessed  by  a  barbarous  people,  and  by  certain 
classes  only  of  the  more  civilized.  As  nations  advance  in  w.ealth 
and  knowledge,  this  intelligence  is  more  largely  diffused.  Intelli 
gence  means  the  power  to  think,  and  thinking  produces  the  desire 
for  action.  .  .  Political  liberty,  therefore,  a  power  over  the  con 
duct  of  government,  is  enjoyed  now,  as  always,  by  a  very  small 
proportion  of  mankind.  .  .  To  be  governed  by  the  few,  in  all 
public  affairs,  is  and  always  has  been  the  lot  of  a  vast  majority  of 
men.  .  .  .  Personal  liberty  is  the  power  which  a  man  has  over 
himself,  over  his  own  actions  and  destiny,  so  far  as  these  are  not 
controlled  by  general  laws  affecting  the  whole  community.  Intel 
ligence,  combined  with  moral  force — what  is  called  ability — is  the 
condition  on  which  this  sort  of  liberty  can  be  enjoyed  ;  for  power 
is  the  inseparable  attribute  of  ability,  and  loss  of  power  of  the  want 
of  it.  Personal  liberty  is  thus,  like  political  liberty,  the  boon  of 
advancing  civilization,  because  civilization,  by  increasing  the  ob 
jects  of  desire  and  effort,  stimulates  and  exercises  varied  talent." 

If  we  assume,  then,  that  involuntary  personal  sub 
ordination  is  not  necessarily  sinful,  but  that,  under 
certain  conditions  and  restrictions,  it  may  be  justifi- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  161 

able,  the  questions  which  arise  in  relation  to  slavery 
in  the  Southern  States  are : 

First. — Do  the  circumstances  and  position  of  the 
two  races,  the  Caucasian  and  the  African,  at  the 
South,  render  the  personal  subordination  of  the  lat 
ter  to  the  former  justifiable  ? 

Second. — If  such  subordination  is  justifiable,  then, 
is  the  system  of  servitude  that  exists  at  the  South 
justifiable,  and  such  as  the  Bible  will  sanction  ? 

Third. — Are  there  any  abuses  connected  with  the 
system  and  not  necessary  to  its  existence,  that  can 
be  prevented  by  law,  that  are  wrongful  ? 

Upon  the  first  question,  the  facts  are,  that,  in  the 
words  of  the  writer  in  the  North  American  Review, 
"  we  have  in  this  country  four  millions  of  negroes. 
They  are  of  a  race  inferior  to  ours ;  "  they  are  dis 
tributed  through  the  States  of  the  South,  comprising, 
in  some  States,  more  than  one  half,  and  in  all  a  con 
siderable  portion,  of  their  populations ;  they  are  not 
only  of  an  inferior  race,  but  devoid  of  civilization, 
except  what  they  have  attained  to  since  their  trans 
portation  to  this  country.  Under  these  circum 
stances,  what  policy,  consistent  with  right,  will  pro 
mote  the  highest  interests  and  happiness  of  both 
races,  and  best  advance  the  welfare  of  the  society 
which  they  constitute  ?  Will  a  policy  which  imposes 
upon  the  inferior  race  no  other  political  or  personal 
restraints  than  are  imposed  upon  the  white  popula 
tion,  compass  these  ends  ?  Experience  and  reason 


162  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

teach  us  they  will  not.  The  negroes  have  not  ar 
rived  at  that  stage  of  progress  from  which  they  can 
be  expected  to  advance  with  a  self-evolving  civiliza 
tion  ;  and  if  left  to  themselves  and  the  laws  enacted 
for  the  whites  alone,  they  will  inevitably  relapse  into 
the  state  of  barbarism  from  which  they  have  just 
commenced  to  emerge ;  they  will  be  governed  by  the 
lower  passions  of  uncivilized  races,  will  not  respect 
or  be  governed  by  the  laws  of  civilized  society,  will 
commit  depredations,  and  become  addicted  to  habits 
of  indolence  and  vagrancy.  If  the  assertions  of  the 
writer  in  the  North  American  Review  are  correct, 
that  "personal  liberty  is  the  boon  of  advancing  civ 
ilization,"  and  is  only  a  right  "  for  those  who  can 
use  it  without  injury  to  themselves  or  others,"  does 
our  knowledge  of  the  negroes  of  the  South  justify 
the  belief  that,  if  left  to  themselves,  they  will  use 
their  acquired  liberty  without  injury  to  themselves 
or  others  ?  We  believe  it  does  not.  Our  experience 
with  the  freedmen,  as  the  enfranchised  negroes  at 
the  South  are  styled,  since  the  commencement  of  the 
present  war,  has  furnished  most  important  corrobo- 
ration  of  this  belief.  The  testimony  of  the  officers 
who  have  had  command  in  the  several  departments 
in  which  slaves  in  large  numbers  have  been  freed, 
has  been  uniform  upon  the  subject. 

General  Hunter,  whilst  in  command  in  South  Car. 
olina,  in  an  order  for  a  draft  of  all  the  able-bodied 
negroes'  in  his  department,  said : 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  163 

"  No  more  efficient  means  of  elevating  the  former  bondmen 
from  their  degraded  condition  to  the  civilized  status  of  the  white 
race  can  be  devised  than  the  schooling  they  will  receive  in  the 
army." 

He  also  referred  to  military  discipline  as  "the 
best  prevention  of  any  abuse  of  their  just  attained 
freedom." 

General  Banks  early  saw  the  necessity  of  the  per 
sonal  subordination  of  the  freedrnen,  and  in  a  gen 
eral  order,  dated  January  29th,  1863,  he  provided 
that— 

"  Those  who  leave  their  employers  will  be  compelled  to  support 
themselves  and  families  by  labor  upon  the  public  works.  Under 
no  circumstances  whatever  can  they  be  maintained  in  idleness,  or 
alloAved  to  wander  through  the  parishes  and  cities  without  employ 
ment.  Vagrancy  and  crime  will  be  suppressed  by  an  enforced  and 
constant  occupation  and  employment." 

The  above  are  extracts  from  some  of  the  many 
orders  that  have  been  issued  in  the  different  depart 
ments,  showing  the  convictions  of  those  in  command 
of  the  necessity  of  the  personal  subordination  of  the 
freedmen,  for  the  protection  of  society  and  the  pub 
lic  interest,  even  in  districts  gccupied  by  our  armies. 
But  these  acts  and  expressions  have  not  been  con 
fined  to  the  generals  in  the  field.  The  Federal  Ad 
ministration  has  been  governed  in  its  policy  toward 
the  negroes  by  the  inexorable  logic  of  the  truths 
which  its  experience  with  the  race  has  taught,  and 
in  all  its  dealings  with  them  has  acknowledged  the 
necessity  for  their  personal  subordination. 


164  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

If,  then,  the  condition  of  the « negroes  and  their 
relations  to  society,  at  the  South,  are  such  as  to 
render  the  personal  subordination  of  the  race  neces 
sary  and  proper,  is  the  system  of  servitude  which 
exists  in  that  section  justifiable,  and  such  as  the 
Bible  can  sanction  ? 

In  the  consideration  of  this  question  we  shall  refer 
only  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  the  system, 
essential  to  its  existence,  which  are  involved  in  the 
ownership  by  the  master  of  the  personal  services  of 
the  slave,  and  the  reciprocal  obligations  and  duties 
which  the  system  has  imposed  upon  the  master; 
leaving  the  consideration  of  incidental  provisions 
connected  with,  but  not  necessary  to  the  continu 
ance  of  the  system,  to  be  discussed  in  another  con 
nection. 

Is,  then,  this  system,  upon  the  facts  that  have 
been  stated,  wrongful?  not,  are  there  abuses  con. 
nected  with  it  which  should  be  relieved  ?  but  is  the 
system,  the  mode  of  subordination  itself,  a  wrongful 
one  ?  Not  to  go  back  of  our  own  experience,  the 
system  which  exists  at  .the  South  is  the  same  which 
has  prevailed  in  this  country  from  the  time  of  its 
first  settlement.  It  is  the  only  system  that  has  ever 
existed  at  the  South,  and  the  precise  system  under 
which  slaves  were  held  at  the  North  for  more  than 
a  century.  Less  than  a  century*  ago  it  was  discon 
tinued  at  the  North,  but  plainly  upon  the  ground 
that  its  continuance  wonld  not  promote  the  material 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  165 

interests  of  the  section.  The  laws  for  its  prohibi 
tion  at  the  North  were  in  each  instance  prospective, 
thereby  affording  an, opportunity  to  owners  of  slaves 
to  dispose  of  them  in  States  where  the  system  was 
to  be  continued ;  which  could  not  have  been  done  if 
the  reason  of  the  discontinuance  was  the  moral 
wrong  of  the  system.  Whilst  the  system  was  per 
mitted  at  the  North,  it  was  approved  of  not  only  by 
the  more  mercenary  and  irreligious  classes,  but  by 
the  best  men  in  the  communities  where  it  was  main 
tained.  One  hundred  years  ago  there  were  few 
clergymen  at  the  North,  of  sufficient  means,  who  did 
not  own  one  or  more  slaves ;  and  is  it  a  violent  pre 
sumption  that  the  same  class  to-day  would  own  ser 
vants,  «  bought  with  their,  money,"  if  the  system  had 
continued  to  be  beneficial  to  the  material  interests 
of  the  North  ?  Few  men  will  contend  that  the  cler 
gymen  of  the  different  religious  denominations  at  the 
South  to-day  are  not  true  and  sincere  Christians. 
Yet  we  find  them  all  strongly  approving  of  the  sys 
tem  as  it  exists  in  their  section.  From  (t  An  Ad 
dress  to  Christians  throughout  the  world,  by  a  Con 
vention  of  Ministers  assembled  at  Richmond,  Vir 
ginia,  April,  1863,"  signed  by  ninety-six  clergymen 
of  the  different  denominations,  many  of  them  hereto 
fore  known  as  among  the  most  eminent  divines  of 
the  country,  we  give  the  following  extract : 

"  We  are  aware  that  in  respect  to  the  meral  aspects  of  slavery, 
we  differ  from  those  who  conceive  of  emancipation  as  a  measure  of 


166  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

benevolence,  and  on  that  account  we  suffer  much  reproach  which 
we  are  conscious  of  not  deserving.  With  all  the  facts  of  the  system 
of  slavery,  in  its  practical  operations,  before  us,  '  as  eye-witnesses 
and  ministers  of  the  Word,  having  had  perfect  understanding  of  all 
things '  on  this  subject  of  which  we  speak,  we  may  surely  claim 
respect  for  our  opinions  and  statements.  Most  of  us  have  grown 
up  from  childhood  among  the  slaves ;  all  of  us  have  preached  to 
and  taught  them  the  Word  of  Life ;  have  administered  to  them  the 
ordinances  of  the  Christian  Church  ;  sincerely  love  them  as  souls 
for  whom  Christ  died ;  we  go  among  them  freely,  and  know  them 
in  health  and  sickness,  in  labor  and  rest,  from  infancy  to  old  age. 
We  are  familiar  with  their  physical  and  moral  condition,  and  alive 
to  all  their  interests  ;  and  we  testify,  in  the  sight  of  God,  that  the 
relation  of  master  and  slave  among  us,  however  we  may  deplore 
abuses  in  this,  as  in  other  relations  of  mankind,  is  not  incompati 
ble  with  our  holy  Christianity,  and  that  the  presence  of  the  African 
in  our  land  is  an  occasion  of  gratitude  on  their  behalf  before  God  ; 
seeing  that  thereby  Divine  Providence  has  brought  them  where 
missionaries  of  the  Cross  may  freely  proclaim  to  them  the  word  of 
salvation,  and  the  work  is  not  interrupted  by  agitating  fanaticism. 
The  Sonth  has  done  more  than  any  people  on  earth  for  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  the  African  race  The  condition  of  the  slave  here  is 
not  wretched,  as  Northern  fictions  would  have  men  believe,  but 
prosperous  and  happy,  and  wonld  have  been  yet  more  so  but  for 
the  mistaken  zeal  of  the  abolitionists.  Can  emancipation  obtain 
for  them  a  better  portion  ?  The  practicable  plan  for  benefiting  the 
African  race  must  be  the  providential  plan — the  Scriptural  plan. 
We  adopt  that  plan  in  the  South,  and  while  the  States  would  seek 
by  wholesome  legislation  to  regard  the  interest  of  master  and 
slave,  we,  as  ministers,  would  preach  the  Word  to  both,  as  we  are 
commanded  of  God.  This  war  has  not  benefited  the  slaves.  Those 
who  have  been  encouraged  or  compelled  by  the  enemy  to  leave 
their  masters  have  gone,  and  we  aver  can  go,  to  no  state  of  society 
that  offers  them  any  better  things  than  they  have  at  home,  either 
in  respect  to  their  temporal  or  eternal  welfare." 

We  do  not  claim  that  the  fact  that  the  system  of 
slavery  which  exists  in  this  country  has  been  uni- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  167 

formly  approved  of  by  the  best  men  in  the  commu 
nities  where  it  has  existed,  necessarily  proves  that 
the  system  is  a  rightful  one.  But  when,  upon,  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  practical  operations  of 
a  system,  the  best  men  in  the  comnlumty  where  it 
exists  can  see  nothing  in  it  to  condemn,  that  fact  is 
an  important  one  to  be  taken  into  consideration  in 
determining  upon  the  question  of  its  sinfulness.  It 
will  hardly  be  contended  that  the  prevailing  senti 
ment  of  a  community,  or  mere  private  interest,  can 
so  far  control  the  judgment  and  blind  the  eyes  of 
the  spiritual  guides  of  the  world,  tha.t,  through  suc 
cessive  generations,  they  can  be  induced  to  approve 
of  palpably  sinful  practices. 

But,  if  the  personal  subordination  of  the  negroes 
at  the  South  is  necessary,  can  any  better  system  be 
devised  for  the  purpose  than  the  one  which  exists  at 
the  South  ?  The  Federal  Administrati6n  has  passed 
a  sentence  of  condemnation  against  the  system,  and 
the  war  has  been  directed,  the  last  two  years,  for  its 
overthrow.  It  has  proposed  anew  system  as  a  sub. 
stitute  for  it.  Is  this  system  more  beneficial  to 
society,  or  to  either  race,  than  the  one  it  would 
supplant  ?  This  system  is  based  upon  the  letting 
out  of  negroes  to  white  masters  for  limited  periods 
of  service,  giving  to  the  master  personal  control 
over  the  negro.  We  cannot  conceive  of  any  advan 
tages  to  society,  or  the  white  race,  from  the  new 
system  over  the  old.  The  personal  subordination 


168  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

is  as  effective  under  the  one  as  the  other.  But  the 
operations  of  the  old  system,  shorn  of  its  abuses,  we 
believe  to  be  far  more  beneficial  to  the  negro  than 
the  new.  In  the  permanent  relations  which  are 
maintained  under  the  old  system,  strong  and  mutual 
attachments  and  sympathies  are  necessarily  created 
between  the  master  and  the  slave,  greatly  to  the 
advantage  of  the  latter.  Prof.  Smith  says  that: 
h  To  the  Hebrew  slave,  the  fact  that  he  was  his 
master's  money,  would  always  be  a  real  though  not 
always  a  sufficient  protection."  So  to  the  Southern 
slave,  the  fact  that  he  is  his  master's  money  affords 
to  him  the  strongest  guaranty  against  injury  from 
his  master.  The  value  of  the  slave  to  his  master 
depends  upon  the  amount  of  labor  he  performs,  and 
the  cheerfulness  with  which  he  performs  it.  It  is 
evident  that  kindness  and  generous  treatment  on 
the  part  of  the  master  will  best  promote  these  ends. 
If  the  slave  is  sick  or  disabled,  his  master  not  only 
loses  the  benefit  of  his  labor,  but  is  obliged  by  law 
to  'support  him.  The  legal  obligations  of  the  master 
are  to  care  for  and  support  the  slave  in  health,  in 
sickness,  and  in  old  age.  These  mutual  obligations 
tend  to  mutual  regard  and  kindness.  In  judging  of 
the  probable  operations  of  such  a  system,  we  should 
keep  in  mind  known  principles  of  man's  nature. 
Services  faithfully  performed  by  the  slave  naturally 
induce  sentiments  of  generosity  and  forbearance  on 
the  part  of  the  master.  The  precise  results  of  any 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  169 

theoretical  system  cannot  be  understood  without  an 
opportunity  for  accurate  observations  upon  its  prac 
tical  workings.  We  know  that,  as  a  class,  the  ne 
groes  of  the  South  have  been  happy  and  contented 
in  their  condition  under  the  system  that  exists. 
The  anticipations  of  those  at  the  North,  that  the 
slaves  were  panting  for  enfranchisement  from  the 
system,  have  not  been  realized.  We  have  found  in 
our  experience  in  the  war,  that,  notwithstanding  the 
inducements  offered  and  assistance  tendered  to  the' 
slaves  to  achieve  their  liberties,  but  comparatively 
few  have  made  the  attempt,  and  there  has  been,  in 
no  instance,  a  servile  insurrection. 

It  cannot  be  expected  that  such  mutual  attach 
ments  and  sympathies  will  spring  up  between  the 
freedmen  and  their  masters,  under  the  system  of 
subordination  adopted  by  the  Administration.  Un 
der  this  system  the  negroes  are  let  for  limited 
periods  of  service.  The  system  appeals  only  to  the 
selfish  nature  of  the  master.  With  him  it  is  solely 
a  matter  of  contract,  from  which  he  is  looking  only 
for  immediate  pecuniary  gain.  The  master  has  no 
responsibility  for  the  condition  of  the  slave  beyond 
his  term  of  service,  and  his  object  is  to  secure  the 
largest  amount  of  labor  from  him  within  the  pre 
scribed  time.  Not  only  theoretically  but  practi 
cally,  we  believe  the  new  system  to  be  antagonistic 
to  the  interests  and  happiness  of  the  negro.  One  of 
the  most  radical  of  the  anti-slavery  papers  of  the 


170  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

country ,*  at  the  close  of  an  able  article  upon  the 
practical  workings  of  the  new  system,  says :  "  It  is 
serfdom  more  galling  than  any  that  ever  existed 
under  the  old  system,  and  to  call  it  anything  else  is' 
hypocrisy." 

In  the  July  number  of  the  North  American  Review, 
the  great  disappointment  of  those  who,  before  the 
war,  believed  the  negro  at  the  South  was  anxious  of 
relieving  himself  of  the  system,  is  plainly  manifested. 
The  Review  speaks  of  movements  "  in  defence  of  lib 
erties  of  blacks  who  can  show  no  better  title  to  them 
than  the  at  least  doubtful  one  of  a  measure  of  "  mili 
tary  necessity;  "  and  further: 

"  It  might  be  different  if  the  negroes  were  men  of  a  sterner 
mould  and  a  more  indomitable  spirit,  men  who  not  simply  desired 
freedom,  but  hated  oppressors.  But  it  must  be  confessed  that 
their  .apathy  during  the  present  struggle  has  disappointed  both 
their  friends  and  enemies.  The  tameness  with  which  they  suffer 
themselves  to  be  assassinated,  to  be  carried  back  into  bondage  and 
held  in  it,  and  with  which  they  have  submitted  to  every  other  out 
rage  which  either  party  chooses  to  inflict  upon  them,  may  be  proof 
either  of  sublime  patience  or  of  extreme  degradation ;  but  in  either 
case  it  indicates  a  state  of  mind  which,  though  it  may  have  spared 
us  some  embarrassment  during  the  wnr,  promises  to  throw  serious 
obstacles  in  the  way  of  their  redemption  after  the  restoration  of 
peace.  Some  trace  of  self-respect,  even  if  it  take  the  low  form  of 
savage  vindictiveness,  is  the  first  condition  of  moral  and  social  ele 
vation.  When  it  fails  to  reveal  itself  in  a  whole  race,  and  when 
this  race  has  to  assert  its  claims  to  mere  manhood  against  oppress 
ors  of  such  a  fierce  and  vigorous  type  as  the  Southern  slaveholder, 
it  is  hard  to  say  how  much  third  parties  can  do  to  help  it." 

*  The  Boston  Commonwealth. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  171 

We  do  not  understand  that  Professor  Smith 
claims  that  the  system  of  personal  subordination  at 
the  South,  with  the  qualifications  we  have  stated,  is 
wrongful.  He  arrives  at  certain  conclusions,  based 
upon  abuses  of  the  system,  which  we  shall  consider 
in  their  proper  connections.  He  states  that  "slavery 
in  Greece  and  Rome  may  in  the  earliest  times  have 
been  a  social  necessity  and  a  sound  relation,  as  it 
was  in  the  patriarchal  East."  The  systems  of 
Greece  and  Rome  permitted  the  enslavement  not 
only  of  the  inhabitants  of  surrounding  nations,  but 
of  the  weaker  and  more  unfortunate  classes  of  their 
own  people.  Their  slaves  consisted  of  captives 
taken  in  war  or  obtained  by  piracy  and  kidnapping, 
and  of  citizens  sentenced  to  servitude  for  crime  or 
debt,  and  the  master  had  absolute  power  of  life  and 
death  over  the  slave. 

If  Professor  Smith  can  justify  such  a  system  of 
slavery  in  the  earlier  times  of  Greece  and  Rome,  he 
could  hardly  denounce  as  sinful  the  system  for  the 
subordination  of  a  confessedly  inferior  race,  which 
exists  at  the  South,  or  claim  that  "  social  necessity  " 
may  not  render  the  relation  it  creates  "  a  sound  re 
lation." 

If  the  system  of  personal  subordination  at  the 
South,  with  the  qualifications  we  have  stated,  nay 
be  morally  justifiable,  are  there  any  abuses  con 
nected  with  it,  and  riot  necessary  to  its  existence 
which  can  be  prevented  by  law,  which  are  wrongful  ? 


172  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

We  believe  there  are.  A  considerable  portion  of , 
the  book  of  Professor  Smith  is  filled  with  statements 
of  abuses  to  which,  under  the  laws  of  the  slave 
States,  the  system  is  liable,  and  with  repetitions  of 
the  stories  of  instances  of  cruelty  of  slaveholders, 
which  have  been  from  time  to  time  reported.  Upon 
the  strength  of  these,  elaborately  set  forth,  Professor 
Smith  comes  to  the  conclusion,  in  which  the  writer 
in  the  North  American  Review  concurs,  that  we  can 
find  no  sanction  for  American  slavery  in  the  record 
of  Christianity  in  the  Rible ;  but,  instead  of  advo 
cating  a  reform  of  these  abuses  and  wrongs,  upon 
which  their  conclusion  is  based,  both  writers  fall  into 
the  current  of  the  radical  anti-slavery  sentiment  of 
this  country,  in  favor  of  a  revolutionary  policy. 
Such  a  policy  is  entirely  inconsistent  with  the  ad 
missions  they  both  make,  of  the  social  necessity  of 
the  personal  subordination  of  people  unfit  to  enjoy 
personal  liberty,  when  introduced  in  .considerable 
numbers,  to  remain,  in  the  society  of  others  fitted  to 
enjoy  this  privilege. 

The  writer  in  the  North  American  Review  says,  in 
regard  to  the  negroes  at  the  South : 

"  We  are  told,  also,  that  they  are  nnfit  to  enjoy  personal  liberty, 
to  exercise  power  individually  over  themselves,  to  be  governed  each 
by  his  own  will  under  the  law.  Is  this  true?  Let  us  grant  it- 
What,  then,  is  the  duty  of  the  superior  race  which  has  power  over 
the  negro  ?  Does  not  the  possession  of  this  power,  by  every  prin 
ciple  of  justice  and  humanity,  make  it  a  trustee  for  the  negro  ? 
What  is  meant  when  it  is  said  the  negro  is  unfit  for  personal  liber- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  173 

ty  ?  Is  it  not  that  he  is  unable  to  take  care  of  himself,  that  he  ret 
quires  a  care-taker,  a  guide,  a  support,  as  a  child  does?  Are  no- 
those,  therefore,  who  hare  power  over  him,  who  claim  and  take 
that  pOAver,  bound  to  furnish  the  guardianship  he  needs  for  his 
benefit,  and,  since  his  conduct  and  condition  affect  their  interests, 
for  their  own  also  ?  " 

He  grants,  what  he  nowhere  else  disputes,  that 
the  negroes  of  the  South  are  now  unfit  to  enjoy  per 
sonal  liberty,  and  yet,  inferentially  at  least,  approves 
of  the  abolition  of  the  system  in  existence  at  the 
South,  without  proposing  any  other  system  as  a  sub 
stitute  for  it,  or  even  a  scheme  for  the  government 
of  the  negroes,  when  freed. 

The  prominent  opportunities  of  abuse  by  the  mas 
ter  under  the  system,  from  which  it  is  claimed  that 
the  negro  may  be  deprived  of  rights  and  benefits 
which  he  is  entitled  to  under  the  relation,  arise  from 
want  of  adequate  legal  provisions  for  the  education 
of  the  slaves,  and  for  the  prevention  of  violations  of 
the  marriage  relations,  and  of  the  separation  of  fami 
lies.  Although  it  is  not  to  be  inferred  that,  because 
there  is  a  power  of  abuse,  the  power  is  necessarily 
exercised,  yet,  in  a  system  affecting  the  highest  in 
terests  of  so  large  a  class  of  human  beings,  it  is  the 
duty  of  the  Government  to  prevent  possibilities  of 
abuse,  to  the  extent  of  its  legitimate  power.  The 
liability  to  abuse  in  the  particulars  above-named  can 
be  prevented  by  legislation,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
legislatures  in  the  States  where  the  system  is  per 
mitted,  to  make  sufficient  provisions  for  the  purpose. 


174  THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

This  subject,  we  have  reason  to  believe,  has  engaged 
the  serious  attention  of  the  best  men  at  the  South. 
The  Pastoral  Address  of  the  Bishops  of  the  Episco 
pal  Church  in  the  South,  issued  at  Augusta,  Georgia, 
in  November,  1862,  urges  upon  the  people  of  that 
section  the  duty  of  giving  to  the  slaves  that  moral 
and  religious  instruction  which  is  to  elevate  them  in 
the  scale  of  being,  and  says : 

"  It  is  likewise  the  duty  of  the  Church  to  press  upon  the  mas 
tery  of  the  country  their  obligations,  as  Christian  men,  so  to  ar 
range  this  institution  as  not  to  necessitate  the  violation  of  those 
sacred  relations  which  God  has  created,  and  which  men  cannot, 
consistently  with  Christian  duty,  annul.  The  systems  of  labor 
which  prevail  in  Europe,  and  which  are,  in  many  respects,  more 
severe  than  ours,  are  so  arranged  as  to  prevent  all  necessity  for  the 
separation  of  parents  and  children,  and  of  husbands  and  wives  ;  and 
a  very  little  care  on  our  part  would  rid  the  system  upon  which  we 
are  about  to  plant  our  national  life,  of  these  unchristian  features. 
It  belongs,  especially,  to  the  Episcopal  Church  to  urge  a  proper 
teaching  upon  this  subject,  for  in  her  fold  and  congregations  are 
found  a  verv  large  proportion  of  the  great  slaveholders  of  the 
country.  We  rejoice  to  be  able  to  say  that  the  public  sentiment  is 
rapidly  becoming  sound  upon  this  subject,  and  that  the  legislatures 
of  several  of  the  Confederate  States  have  already  taken  steps  to 
ward  this  great  consummation." 

That  there  will  be  opportunities  for  abuse  under 
the  system,  with  all  the  protection  which  human 
laws  can  afford,  there  can  be  no  doubt ;  and  this  can 
be  said,  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent,  of  every  sys 
tem  adopted  to  control  the  relations  of  men  with 
each  other.  Under  the  system  for  the  personal  sub 
ordination  of  children  to  parents,  and  wives  to  hus- 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  175 

bands,  there  have  been  not  unfrequent  instances  of 
fiendish  cruelty  and  crime.  Yet  these  instances 
have  been  exceptional,  and  because  they  have  oc 
curred,  no  one  advocates  the  abolition  of  the  sys 
tems,  or  believes  them  to  be  sinful. 

We  mrnst  deal  with  mankind  as  we  find  it.  We 
cannot  expect  perfection  in  this  world,  nor  should 
we  attempt  to  revolutionize  systems  founded  on  the 
necessities  of  our  natures  or  relations,  solely  be 
cause,  under  them,  there  are  possibilities,  or  even 
instances,  of  abuse.  If  we  should,  but  few  systems 
could  survive  the  test.  Our  duties,  under  the  be 
neficent  principles  of  our  Christian  religion,  are  to 
reform,  and  not  to  revolutionize — to  improve  and 
perfect  systems  and  institutions,  by  protecting  them, 
so  far  as  possible,  from  opportunity  of  abuse,  by  the 
laws  of  the  State  j  and  from  abuses  which  the  law 
cannot  reach,  by  educating  the  minds  of  the  people, 
and  inculcating  in  their  hearts  the  ennobling  senti 
ments  of  justice  and  humanity.  The  brotherhood  of 
man  is  an  idea  which  has  been  long  striven  after,  but 
never  realized.  It  is  toward  this  that  the  principles 
of  Christianity  tend.  In  a  struggle  of  eighteen  hun 
dred  years,  we  can  note  progress ;  yet,  when  we  look 
forward  to  the  great  consummation, 

"  The  wide,  the  unbounded  prospect  lies  before  us, 
But  shadows,  clouds,  and  darkness  rest  upon  it." 

It  may  not  appear  plain  to  us  why  a  good  God, 


176  'THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY. 

in  His  infinite  wisdom,  has  created  men  and  races 
differing  in  capacities  and  condition,  and  has  not 
given  to  all  the  same  opportunities  for  worldly  hap 
piness  and  prosperity.  But  these  distinctions  and 
varieties  exist,  and  must  be  necessarily  recognized 
in  the  social  systems  which  are  organized  for  the 
protection  and  advancement  of  society. 

It  is  with  the  moral  questions  of  a  system  based 
upon  such  distinctions,  we  have  attempted  to  deal. 
We  have  not  considered  the  question  of  the  moral 
responsibility  of  those  who  brought  the  negro  to  this 
country.  Prof.  Smith  says :  u  The  position  into 
which  the  piratical  cupidity  of  the  whites  has 
brought  the  two  races  at  the  South  is  an  awkward 
one."  We  grant  it.  But  who  were  guilty  of  this 
piratical  cupidity?  It  was  the  policy  of  England 
that  forced  the  negro  to  our  shores,  and  her  power 
that  maintained  the  slave  trade  between  the  colonies 
and  Africa,  even  against  the  remonstrances  of  the 
colonists.  In  1760,  South  Carolina  passed  an  act 
prohibiting  the  further  importation  of  African  slaves. 
The  act  was  not  only  rejected  by  the  Crown,  but 
the  Governor  was  reprimanded,  and  the  Governors 
of  all  the  colonies  warned,  by  royal  edict,  against 
countenancing  similar  legislation ;  and  even  as  late 
as  in  1775,  in  answer  to  a  remonstrance  from  the 
colonies,  upon  the  subject,  the  Premier  of  England 
replied :  "  We  cannot  allow  the  colonies  to  check  or 
discourage  in  any  degree  a  traffic  so  beneficial  to 


THE  BIBLE  AND  SLAVERY.  177 

the  nation."  But  whatever  the  share  our  fathers 
may  have  had  in  the  responsibility  of  transporting 
the  negroes  here,  certainly  the  white  population  of 
the  South,  of  this  generation,  lias  not  contributed  to 
the  wrong.  It  found  in  its  midst  a  numerous  peo 
ple  of  an  inferior  race,  unfitted  for  personal  liberty, 
and  for  whose  expatriation  no  adequate,  practicable 
plan  had  ever  been  proposed,  and  it  continued  the 
system  of  subordination  which  it  found  in  operation, 
which  had  been  sanctioned  by  the  fathers  of  both 
sections.  "  The  position  "  into  which  ll  the  piratical 
cupidity  of  the  whites  "  has  brought  the  two  races 
at  the  South  may  be  not  only  "  an  awkward  one," 
but  an  unfortunate  one,  for  the  highest  interests  of 
the  white  population  and  the  progress  of  society  in 
that  section.  But  the  position,  however  awkward, 
is  one  that,  under  one  system  or  another,  must  be 
endured,  unless  the  negroes  are  exterminated,  or 
some  feasible  mode  of  effectual  colonization  shall  be 
devised. 

We  believe  that,  not  by  revolutionary,  but  by  re 
formatory  and  truly  philanthropic  efforts,  the  insti 
tution  of  slavery  at  the  South  will  be  shorn  of  its 
worst  abuses,  the  negro  gradually  improved  and 
lifted  in  the  scale  of  being,  and  the  condition  of  his 
practical  relations  with  the  white  race  modified 
until,  in  the  fulness  of  time,  if  it  shall  be  proved  he 
is  capable  of  such  advancement,  he  will  be  fitted  for, 
and  will  inevitably  enjoy,  the  boon  of  personal  lib 
erty. 


THE  CAUSE  OF  OUR  STRIFE  AND  THE 
REMEDY.* 


EVERY  reader  of  American  history  must  be  im 
pressed  with  the  marked  distinctions  which  have 
existed,  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  country  to 
the  present  time,  between  the  people  of  the  two 
great  sections,  the  North  and  the  South.  These 
distinctions  were  plainly  to  be  seen  long  before  the 
Colonies  declared  their  independence  of  Great  Brit 
ain  ;  they  were  marked  during  the  war  of  the  Revo 
lution,  and  the  period  which  immediately  succeeded 
it ;  they  were  fully  acknowledged  in  the  Convention 
which  framed  the  Constitution ;  and  have  been  more 
signally  manifested  since,  with  the  increase  of  the 
population  and  growth  of  the  material  interests  of 
the  respective  sections. 

A  careful  study  of  the  history  of  the  two  people — 
for  such  they  certainly  have  been  and  are  in  most 
important  characteristics — will  disclose  the  plainest 
evidence  of  such  prominent  and  influential  differ 
ences  of  interests  and  character,  as  would  naturally 
and  without  the  intervention  of  the  American  system 

*  Published  in  the  American  Monthly  Magazine,  April,  1865. 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  179 

of  government,  have  led  to  their  organization  into 
two  separate  and  independent  nationalities. 

There  have  also  been  developed  at  the  West,  with 
the  spread  of  population  over  its  vast  and  fertile 
prairies,  especially  within  the  last  thirty  years,  al 
though  not  such  decisive,  yet  prominent  characteris 
tics,  distinguishing  its  people  from  those  of  either  of 
the  other  sections ;  and  more  recently  the  settlement 
of  the  region  west  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  is  dis 
closing  yet  another  germ  of  independent  interests 
and  character. 

These  facts,  if  facts  they  are,  should  be  carefully 
considered  at  all  times  by  the  statesmen  of  the  coun 
try,  and  never  more  carefully  than  at  a  juncture  like 
the  present,  when  the  people  of  one  great  section, 
through  an  apprehension  that  its  great  and  distin 
guishing  interests  and  characteristics  were  to  be  sub 
ordinated  to  the  will  of  the  majority  of  the  people  of 
other  sections  of  the  country,  is  engaged  in  a  terri 
ble  struggle  to  assert  its  independence,  and  to  es 
tablish  for  itself  a  separate  nationality. 

Recognizing  those  differences  between  the  people 
of  the  South  and  the  other  sections,  which  are  uni 
versally  acknowledged,  it  is  important  for  us  to  as 
certain  whether  they  have  been  created  by  circum 
stances  which  may  be  controlled  or  modified,  or 
whether  they  have  grown  up  from  natural  causes, 
which  no  human  power  is  capable  of  restraining. 

The  distinctions  between  the  people  of  the  two 


180  THE  CAUSE  AND  TH&EEMEDY. 

sections  are  manifested  in  the  difference  of  their  in 
terests,  occupations,  sentiments,  manners,  customs, 
and  institutions.  What  caused  these  differences? 
Judge  Story,  in  a  dissertation  upon  the  origin  of 
nations,  in  his  work  on  International  Law,  says : 

"  Climate  and  geographical  position,  and  the  physical  adapta 
tions  springing  from  them,  must  at  all  times  have  had  a  powerful 
influence  in  the  organization  of  each  society,  and  have  given  a  pe 
culiar  complexion  and  character  to  many  of  its  arrangements.  The 
hold,  intrepid,  and  hardy  natives  of  the  north  of  Europe,  whether 
civilized  or  barbarous,  would  scarcely  desire  or  tolerate  the  indo 
lent  inactivity  and  lascivious  indulgences  of  the  Asiatics.  Nations 
inhiabting  the  borders  of  the  ocean,  and  accustomed  to  maritime 
intercourse  with  other  nations,  would  naturally  require  institutions 
and  laws,  adapted  to  their  pursuits  and  enterprises,  which  would  be 
wholly  unfit  for  those  who  should  be  placed  in  the  interior  of  a 
continent,  and  should  maintain  very  different  relations  with  their 
neighbors,  both  in  peace  and  war." 

We  believe  that  all  the  essential  differences  be 
tween  the  people  of  the  South  and  the  other  sections 
have  arisen,  principally  from  the  first  of  the  two 
causes  above  stated,  namely,  climate ;  and  that  all 
the  essential  differences  between  the  people  of  the 
West  and  of  the  Pacific  coast  and  the  other  sections, 
had  their  origin,  principally,  in  the  second  cause 
above  stated,  namely,  geographical  position. 

We  propose  to  consider  briefly,  how  far  climate 
has  been  influential  in  creating  the  differences  which 
exist  between  the  people  of  the  South  and  those  of 
the  other  sections. 

The  territory  of  the   United  States,  extending 


THE   CAUSE  AND   THE  REMEDY.  181 

through  sixteen  degrees  of  latitude,  reaches  at  the 
North  to  a  climate  colder  than  that  of  the  northern 
portion  of  Prussia,  and  at  the  South  to  a  climate 
scarcely  less  tropical  than  that  of  the  extreme  south 
of  Spain  or  Portugal.  From  an  early  day  sectional 
divisions  have  been  recognized,  corresponding  with 
these  differences  of  climate.'  The  States  have  been 
classed  as  Northern  and  Southern.  In  the  first- 
named  class  are  included  all  the  States  of  the  cold, 
and  in  the  second,  all  the  States  of  the  warm  climate. 
A  still  further  distinction  has  been  recognized,  in 
the  designation  of  the  northern  tier  of  States  of  the 
southern  section,  as  the  Border  States.  This  dis 
tinction  corresponds  with  the  phenomena  of  climate, 
as  in  the  gradual  transition  from  a  cold  to  a  warm 
country  there  must  necessarily  be  found  an  interme 
diate  region,  partaking  somewhat  of  the  climate  of 
both,  with  none  of  the  marked  characteristics  of 
either. 

This  dissimilarity  in  climate  has  been  the  cause  of 
the  difference  in  the  agricultural  productions  oi  the 
two  sections,  and  has  exerted  a  powerful  influence 
upon  the  character  and  conditions  of  the  ..labor  of 
the  two  people.  Under  a  climate  like  that  of  the 
North,  it  is  impossible  for  the  laboring  classes  to 
obtain  the  comforts  of  life  without  constant  exertion. 
The  sterility  of  the  soil  of  that  section,  and  the  length 
of  its  winters,  in  which  the  laboring  classes  are  pre 
vented  from  working  in  the  field,  naturally  induce 


182  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

them  to  seek  other  employments.  Hence  a  large 
portion  of  the  population  of  the  North,  especially  in 
the  seaboard  States,  have  sought  occupation  in  the 
laborious  employments  of  commerce  and  manufac 
tures. 

Under  a  climate  like  that  of  the  South,  with  a  soil 
of  extreme  fertility,  with  none  of  the  necessities 
which  long  inclement  seasons  create,  the  laboring 
classes  are  enabled  to  support  themselves  by  agri 
cultural  pursuits,  with  little  exertion ;  and  thus,  in 
dependent  of  the  enervating  influences  of  climate,  but 
little  incentive  is  presented  for  engaging  in  the  more 
skilful  and  laborious  employments. 

At  the  South,  commercial  and  manufacturing  in 
terests  must  always  be  subordinate  to  the  agricul 
tural,  and  at  the  North,  until  the  further  develop 
ments  of  the  dominant  interests  of  the  Western 
and  Pacific  States,  commercial  and  manufacturing 
interests  must  predominate. 

But  the  influence  of  climate  is  shown  in  the  differ 
ence  of  temperament,  customs,  and  institutions  of 
the  two  people,  scarcely  less  than  in  their  labor  and 
productions.  These  differences  have  been  plainly 
observable  from  the  time  of  the  earliest  history  of 
the  country,  and  have  not  been  materially  influenced 
by  any  differences  in  the  characters  of  those  who 
colonized  the  respective  sections.  Both  sections 
were  settled  principally  by  people  of  the  same  race, 
and  from  the  same  nation.  There  certainly  was  no 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.          183 

greater  difference  of  characteristics  in  the  settlers  of 
the  two  sections,  than  in  the  settlers  of  the  different 
States  of  both  sections,  and  yet,  no  one  will  pretend 
that  want  of  homogenity  in  the  settlers  of  the  differ 
ent  States  of  either  section  has  created  any  cause  of 
conflict  or  disturbance.  We  believe  that,  in  no  in 
stance,  can  any  essential  difference  between  the  peo 
ple  of  the  two  sections  be  traced  to  want  of  homo- 
genity  in.  the  original  colonists. 

The  effect  of  climatic  causes  upon  individual  char- 
aoter  is  plainly  seen  in  the  change  produced  in  rep. 
rasentative  men  even,  who  have  removed  from  the 
one  section  into  the  other.  They  have  invariably, 
within  a  short  time,  not  only  conformed  to  the  cus 
toms  and  institutions  of  the  people  of  their  adopted 
section,  but  have  partaken  of  all  their  peculiarities 
and  prejudices. 

The  continuance  and  growth  of  the  system  of 
slavery  have  also  been  determined  principally  by  the 
influence  of  climate.  When  England  first  conceived 
the  policy  of  introducing  African  slaves  to  this  coun 
try,  and  during  the  period  of  their  early  importation, 
there  existed  no  greater  prejudice  against  the  system 
at  the  North  than  at  the  South.  The  same  cause 
induced  the  largest  importation  into  the  South,  and 
subsequently  the  abandonment  of  the  system  at  the 
North,  and  its  growth  at  the  South.  It  is  plain  that 
climate  has  substantially  controlled  the  fortunes  of 
this  institution  in  this  country  from  the  commence- 


184  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY, 

ment.  Slave  labor  was  not,  and  could  not  be 
made  profitable  under  the  cold  climate  of  the  North; 
hence  it  was  discontinued.  In  the  Border  or  inter 
mediate  states,  the  system,  as  would  be  expected  if 
climate  controls  its  destiny,  has  been  continued  with 
a  feeble  growth ;  and,  beyond  them,  under  the  well- 
defined  climate  of  the  South,  the  slave  population 
has  largely  increased,  and  now  constitutes  the  prin 
cipal  laboring  class  of  that  section. 

But  it  is  chimed,  although  the  circumstances  and 
continued  existence  of  the  institution  of  slavery  may 
have  been  determined  by  the  influences  of  climate, 
yet  that  the  institution  itself  has  been  influential  in 
creating  a  landed  aristocracy  at  the  South,  which 
has  possessed  itself  largely  of  the  social  and  political 
powers  of  that  section.  It  has,  undoubtedly,  like 
every  other  institution  at  the  South,  exerted  an  in 
fluence  in  the  formation  of  its  social  and  political 
systems.  The  influences  of  climate,  and  of  the  con 
ditions  it  has  been  instrumental  in  creating,  neces 
sarily  act  and  react  upon  each  other,  and  all  con 
tribute  more  or  less  in  the  formation  of  the  peculiar 
systems  which  exist  at  the  South.  Yet  slavery  has 
not  been  a  primary  cause,  nor  has  it  had  a  control 
ling  influence  on  either  the  social  or  political  con 
dition  of  the  Southern  people. 

It  will  be  difficult  to  prove  that  the  institution  of 
slavery  has  given  rise  to  any  of  the  prominent  social 
or  political  phenomena  that  have  been  manifested  at 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  185 

the  South.  Its  influence  has  been  to  increase  and 
intensify,  rather  than  to  originate,  social  and  politi 
cal  idiosyncracies.  We  believe  that,  if  slave  labor 
had  never  been  employed  at  the  South,  there  would 
have  grown  up  in  that  section  a  landed  aristocracy, 
which  would  have  wielded  a  large  share  of  social  and 
political  power. 

There  is  an  inevitable  tendency  to  inequality  of 
wealth  in  all  warm  countries,  especially  during  the 
early  periods  of  their  development.  It  is  shown  in 
the  possession  of  large  landed  estates  by  the  few, 
while  the  great  masses  of  the  population  are  mere 
laborers,  with  neither  the  incentives  nor  means  of 
acquiring  capital  enjoyed  by  the  laborers  of  more 
temperate  regions.  There  is  nothing  in  the  "circum 
stances  or  history  of  the  South  to  exempt  its  people 
from  the  operations  of  this  general  law  established 
by  climate.  Inequality  in  wealth  is  inevitably  fol 
lowed  by  inequality  in  social  and  political  power. 
Without  slave  labor,  the  great  landed  proprietors  of 
the  South  would  have  constituted  an  aristocracy, 
with  powers  differing  only  in  degree  from  those  ex 
ercised  by  the  same  class  in  the  past ;  and  if  the  in 
stitution  of  slavery  shall  be  abolished,  yet  the  negro 
will  remain,  and  in  time  it  will  be  proved  how  much, 
if  at  all,  his  social  and  political  power  will  be  in 
creased,  and  consequently  the  power  of  the  aris 
tocracy  diminished,  by  the  change. 

If  these  views  are  correct,  then  all  of  the  impor* 


186  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY 

tant  differences  between  the  people  of  the  South  and 
of  the  other  sections  arise  from,  or  their  conditions 
are  determined  by,  the  influences  of  climate.  If  the 
climate  and  soil  of  the  North  were  similar  to  the 
climate  and  soil  of  the  South,  the  people  of  the 
North  to-day  would  be  employed  in  the  cultivation 
of  cotton,  rice,  and  sugar-cane,  to  which  commercial 
and  manufacturing  interests  would  be  subordinate; 
and  in  sentiments,  customs,  and  institutions,  we 
should  be  assimilated  to  the  people  of  the  South. 
Under  these  conditions,  even  the  institution  of 
slavery  would  afford  no  causo  of  difference  or 
offence  between  the  sections,  as  there  is  every  rea 
son  to  believe  it  would  be  approved  and  sustained 
alike  by  the  people  of  both. 

If  the  above  views  are  correct,  it  is  evident,  also, 
that  the  influential  differences  between  the  two  peo 
ple  cannot  be  removed  by  any  human  agency.  The 
material  interests  of  the  South  may  be  prostrated 
for  the  time,  but  they  cannot  be  made  to  conform  to 
those  of  the  other  sections.  The  laws  which  govern 
labor  at  the  Soath  may  be  suspended  through  vio 
lence,  yet  it  will  be  impossible  to  substitute  for  them 
the  laws  which  control  the  labor  of  the  North.  The 
moment  that  force  is  withdrawn,  the  people  of  the 
South  will  engage  in  the  same  pursuits  as  in  the 
past,  and  the  character  and  conditions  of  its  labor 
will  be  determined  by  influences  over  which  enact 
ments  of  Congress  can  have  but  little  control.  Nei- 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  187 

ther  will  it  be  possible,  by  force  or  statute,  to  change 
the  great  characteristics  of  the  people  of  the  South- 
The  causes  which  have  produced  them  cannot  be 
destroyed.  Tljeir  operations  may  be  disturbed  by 
the  violence  of  civil  war,  but  when  the  struggle  is 
over,  and  peace  resumes  its  sway,  they  will  again 
exert  their  silent  influences,  as  in  the  past,  upon  the 
characters  of  those  who  shall  people  the  States  o* 
the  South.  It  is  impossible  to  efface  the  marked 
differences  in  the  characters  of  the  two  people  by  the 
exertion  of  any  force.  No  policy  which  the  general 
Government  can  adopt,  can  produce  homogenity  be 
tween  the  inhabitants  of  the  two  sections.  There  is 
no  power  in  legislation  that  can  compel  the  inhabit 
ants  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  or  even  of  Illi 
nois  and  California,  to  conform  their  institutions, 
habits,  and  modes  of  thought  to  those  which  govern 
the  people  of  New  England.  Nor  would  the  at 
tempt  to  reduce  the  character  of  the  people  of  the 
entire  country  to  a  single  type  be  materially  aided 
by  a  thorough  change  of  population  at  the  South. 
If  the  white  race  of  that  section  should  be  complete 
ly  exterminated,  and  its  place  filled  by  a  people  rep 
resenting  the  most  extreme  Northern  sentiments,  we 
believe  that  within  the  time  of  one  generation  there 
would  be  developed  quite  as  much  difference  in  in 
terests  and  character  between  the  people  of  the  two 
sections  as  has  ever  existed  in  the  past ;  and  that  if 
the  new  population  should  prove  to  be  more  ener- 


188  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

getic  and  more  jealous  of  its  rights  than  that  which 
preceded  it,  there  would  exist  greater  cause  of  ap 
prehension  of  hostilities  between  the  two  people, 
with  no  additional  protection  to  sections  under  the 
Constitution,  than  has  ever  existed  in  the  past.  The 
abolition  of  slavery  would  remove  the  moral  ele 
ments  which  have  contributed  so  much  to  fire  the 
heart  of  the  North  in  the  present  struggle,  without 
essentially  modifying  any  of  the  prominent  causes  of 
dispute  between  the  two  sections. 

But  it  may  be  asked  how  has  it  happened  that, 
with  such  radical  differences  between  the  people  of  the 
two  sections,  both  have  lived  together  in  peace  under 
one  flag  for  nearly  eighty  years,  and  enjoyed  under 
it.  during  that  period,  unexampled  prosperity.  The 
answer  to  this  is,  that  these  results  have  been 
achieved  through  the  beneficent  operations  of  our 
peculiar  system  of  government.  The  peculiarity  of 
the  system  is  in  the  divisions  of  power  between  the 
local  or  State  governments  and  the  General  Govern 
ment.  The  basis  of  the  system  is  local  self-govern 
ment  ;  its  fundamental  principle  is,  that  the  people 
of  each  considerable  geographical  section  have  the 
exclusive  power  of  legislation  and  control,  in  all 
matters  which  pertain  to  their  peculiar  interests, 
customs,  and  institutions.  Upon  this  basis  is  built 
the  general  or  federative  government,  for  the  man 
agement  of  the  external  relations  of  the  several 
States,  and  for  their  general  protection*  The  Gen- 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  189 

eral  Government  was  framed  by  the  Governments  of 
the  different  States  through  a  Convention,  and  con 
sented  to  by  their  peoples.  Their  object  in  estab 
lishing  it  was  to  give  additional  security,  strength, 
and  vitality  to  the  local  or  State  governments.  As 
Governments  generally,  are  established  for  the  pur 
pose  of  affording  protection  to  the  individuals  of  the 
community  in  the  enjoyment  of  their  natural  rights 
and  of  organizing  and  directing  their  aggregate  force 
against  enemies  from  abroad,  so  the  General  Govern 
ment  was  established,  for  the  purpose  of  affording 
protection  to  individual  States  in  the  enjoyment  and 
exercise  of  their  rights  under  the  system  of  local 
self-government  which  had  grown  up,  and  for  the 
purpose  of  organizing  and  directing  their  aggregate 
strength  against  foreign  aggressors. 

It  is  to  this  system  that  the  people  of  the  country 
are  indebted  for  their  success  in  the  past.      Under 
it,  each  State  managed  its  own  affairs,  and  exercised 
exclusive  control  in  all  matters  which  pertained  to 
the  domestic  happiness  of  its  people.      We  believe 
that  this  system  is  the  only  one  that  could  have  se 
cured  the  political  co-operation  of  the  people  of  the 
two  sections  in  the  past ;  that  a  consolidated  gov 
ernment  would  have  signally  failed  of  this  object ; 
and  that  even  a  despotic  government  would  have 
been  unable,  by  the  exercise  of  any  force,  to  have 
compelled  a  political  unity  of  the  two  people  for 
eighty  years. 


190  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY  . 

The  dissatisfaction  which  culminated  in  the  pres 
ent  struggle,  arose,  not  from  any  dislike' of  our  sys 
tem  of  government,  but  from  a  jealousy  lest  the  pow 
ers  of  the  General  Government  should  be  perverted 
to  the  subversion  of  the  principles  of  local  self-gov 
ernment.  The  cause  of  the  dissatisfaction  was  sta 
ted  by  President  Lincoln  in  his  inaugural  message, 
March  fourth,  1861,  in  the  following  language:  "Ap 
prehension  seems  to  exist  among  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States,  that  by  the  accession  of  a  Republi 
can  administration,  their  property,  their  peace,  and 
their  personal  security  are  to  be  endangered !  " 

This  apprehension  existed,  and  was  wide-spread, 
and  whether  justified  by  facts  or  not,  induced  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States  to  make  an  attempt 
at  separation  from  the  control  of  the  General  Gov 
ernment.  If  the  facts  justified  the  apprehension, 
they  would  also  justify  the  people  of  the  South  in 
their  revolutionary  attempt.  Under  a  General  Gov 
ernment  like  ours,  if  a  majority  of  the  people  and 
States  unite  for  the  determined  purpose  of  oppress 
ing  the  minority,  or  of  interfering  with  its  constitu. 
tional  rights,  the  ninority  will  have  just  cause  for 
apprehension.  For  under  the  forms  of  law,  through 
a  gradual  perversion  of  the  spirit  and  intent  of  the 
Constitution,  and  by  an  exercise  of  questionable 
powers  against  which  there  may  be  no  means  of  im 
mediate  redress,  much  injustice  may  be  done  to  th  e 
rights  and  interests  of  the  minority.  The  justifica- 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.          191 

tion  of  a  resort  to  revolutionary  measures,  which 
such  acts  by  the  majority  would  afford,  is  plainly 
stated  in  the  message  of  President  Lincoln  above 
quoted  from.  He  says :  "If,  by  mere  force  of  num. 
bers,  a  majority  should  deprive  a  minority  of  any 
clearly  written  constitutional  right,  it  might  in  a 
moral  point  of  view,  justify  revolution — it  certainly 
would,  if  such  right  were  a  vital  one."  It  is  true, 
further,  that  if  a  majority  shall  have  combined  for 
the  declared  purpose  of  depriving  the  minority  of 
any  clearly  written  Constitutional  rights,  the  minor 
ity  is  not  bound  to  wait  till  the  blow  is  struck,  till 
its  liberties  are  within  the  grasp  of  a  hostile  power, 
but  is  justified  in  adopting  measures  to  avert  the 
threatened  calamity ;  and,  unfortunately  perhaps  for 
the  peace  of  Nations,  the  people  whose  rights  are  en 
dangered  are,  in  each  case,  the  sole  judges  of  the 
exigency,  and  necessarily  make  the  decision  under 
circumstances  of  passion  and  excitement^  President 
Lincoln,  in  the  same  message,  challenged  reference 
to  a  single  instance  in  which  a  plainly  written  pro 
vision  of  the  Constitution  had  ever  been  denied,  and 
disclaimed,  for  himself  and  his  party,  any  intention 
of  interfering  with  the  constitutional  rights  of  the 
people  of  the  Southern  States.  We  believe  it  true 
that  a  large  majority  of  the  party  which  elevated 
him  and  his  administration  to  power,  had  not,  at  the 
time,  an  intention  of  violating  clearly  written  con- 
stitutional  rights :  yet,  the  circumstances  connected 


192  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

with  the  organization  of  the  party,  its  history,  the 
subjects  on  which  it  based  its  political  platform,  and 
the  declaration's  of  many  of  its  representative  men, 
of  its  intentions,  were  such  as  would  naturally  tend 
to  excite  jealousy  in  the  minds  of  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States,  and  such  as  called,  on  the  acces 
sion  of  that  party  to  power,  for  an  explicit  and  em 
phatic  declaration  of  intentions  from  its  representa 
tives  in  Congress,  which  they  persistently  refused  to 
make.  The  result  was,  the  civil  war  which  has  now 
been  waged  upon  a  gigantic  scale  for  four  years. 

All  the  important  questions  which  now  agitate  the 
public; mind,  arise  out  of  the  state  of  affairs  which 
this  struggle  has  developed.  By  far  the  most  im 
portant  of  these  arise  put  of  the  issues  presented, 
which  affect  the  future  existence  of  our  system  of 
government. 

The  liberties,  happiness,  and  prosperity  of  the 
people  of  f he  country,  in  the  future,  depend  upon  a 
correct  decision  of  these  questions.  Towns  that 
have  been  destroyed  may  be  rebuilt ;  interests  that 
languish  may  be  revived ;  wealth  that  has  been  sac  - 
rificed  may  be  replaced,  through  the  energy  and  en 
terprise  of  the  people ;  and  immigration  may,  in  part 
at  least,  supply  to  the  industry  of  the  country  a 
population  in  the  place  of  that  the  war  has  de 
stroyed.  But  the  liberties  of  the  people  once  strick 
en  down — the  American  system  once  abandoned  to 
despotic  rule — if  not  lost  for  ever,  can  be  rescued 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  193 

only  after  long  years  of  suffering,  through  the  terri 
ble  and  desperate  struggles  of  an  oppressed  people. 
Our  experience  as  a  people  since  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution,  has  demonstrated  the  wisdom  of 
our  political  system,  and  confirmed  the  faith  of  its 
founders  that  it  was  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
country  through  all  coining  time.  The  dangers  that 
have  threatened,  and  troubles  that  have  visited  the 
country,  have  been  caused  by  real  or  apprehended 
perversions  of  the  system ;  and  our  experience,  es 
pecially  during  the  last  four  years,  has  demonstrated 
the  necessity  of  additional  securities  for  the  future 
maintenance  of  the  system.  All  our  difficulties  have 
resulted  from  the  development  of  the  different  inter- 
ests  of  the  respective  sections,  to  w  hich  there  was 
given  no  adequate  defensive  powers  in  the  organism 
of  the  General  Government.  The  danger  to  the  sys 
tem  from  this  source  did  not  escape  the  attention  of 
the  framers  of  the  Constitution.  After  determining 
upon  the  powers  to  be  delegated  to  the  General  Gov 
ernment,  and  consequently  the  powers  to  be  reserved 
to  the  States  and  the  people,  their  attention  was  di 
rected  to  the  subject  of  the  interests  of  minorities 
which  might  be  endangered  by  the  action  of  the  ma 
jority,  in  the  administration  of  the  affairs  of  the  Gen 
eral  Government.  They  believed  it  to  be  unsafe  to 
intrust  power  in  the  hands  of  the  majority,  with  no 
other  restrictions  than  mere  constitutional  prohibi 
tions  would  afford.  They  recognized  the  truth,  that 


194:  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

the  great  governing  principle  of  .majorities,  as  of  in 
dividuals,  is  self-interest,  and  that  the  former  are 
more  unscrupulous  in  the  exercise  of  power  for  the 
advancement  of  their  interests,  than  the  latter ;  and 
they  feared  that,  under  a  General  Government,  framed 
upon  a  democratic  basis  and  invested  with  the  pow 
ers  of  the  purse  and  the  sword,  the  majority  could 
and  would  adopt  measures  with  but  little  regard  to 
their  effect  upon  the  infcer^ts  of  the  minority;  and 
saw  that  the  only  way  to  prevent  such  abuse  was  to 
give  to  the  minority  a  power  in  the  government  it 
self,  to  prevent  the  adoption  of  unfriendly  measures. 
Consequently,  they  sought  to  ascertain  what  classes 
of  States  or  individuals  might  be  endangered  through 
the  exercise  of  the  powers  of  the  General  Govern 
ment,  with  a  view  to  give  them  a  defensive  power. 

The  small  States  were  regarded  as  in  a  position 
of  danger,  as  it  was  evident  that  a  few  of  the  large 
States,  having  a  community  of  interests  and  a  ma 
jority  of  the  voters  of  the  country,  might  unite,  and 
obtain  control  of  the  several  departments  of  govern 
ment.  After  full  discussion,  the  dangers  from  this 
source  were  provided  against,  by  giving  to  each 
State  an  equal  representation  in  one  branch  of  the 
Government — the  Senate ;  thereby  conferring  upon 
the  small  States  equal  powers  with  the  large  ones, 
in  preventing  the  enactment  of  laws  which  they 
might  deem  unfriendly  to  their  interests.  No  inju 
rious  effects  in  the  legislation  of  the  country  have 


THE   CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.          195 

resulted  from  this  anti-democratic  feature  in  the 
Government,  and  it  has  served  to  prevent  not  only 
conflicts,  but  even  jealousies,  between  these  two 
classes  of  States. 

Pending  the  discussion  in  the  Convention,  upon 
the  subject  of  the  large  and  small  States,  Mr.  Mad 
ison  said :  "He  admitted  that  every  peculiar  interest, 
whether  in  any  class  of  citizens  or  any  description 
of  States,  ought  to  be  secured  as  far  as  possible." 
That  "whenever  there  is  danger  of  attack,  there 
ought  to  be  given  a  constitutional  power  of  defence." 
But  he  contended  that  the  great  difference  of  inter  - 
ests  did  not  lie  between  the  large  and  small  States, 
but, '  That  it  lies  "between  the  Northern  and  South 
ern,  and  if  any  defensive  power  were  necessary,  it 
ought  to  be  unitedly  given  to  these  two  interests." 
Mr.  Pinckney  said  there  was  u  a  real  distinction  be 
tween  the  Northern  and  Southern  interests;"  and 
that :  ''These  different  interests  would  be  a  source  of 
oppressive  regulations,  if  no  check  to  a  bare  major 
ity  should  be  provided."  Mr.  King  said :  "He  was 
fully  convinced  that  the  question  concerning  a  differ 
ence  of  interests  did  not  lie,  where  it  had  hitherto 
been  discussed,  between  the  great  and  small  States; 
but  between  the  Southern  and  Eastern."  He  said : 
<<He  W^LS  not  averse  to  giving  them  (the  Southern)  a 
still  greater  security,  but  did  not  see  how  it  could 
be  done."  Colonel  Mason  said :  "If  the  Government 
is  to  be  lasting,  it  must  be  founded  in  the  confidence 


196  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

and  affections  of  the  people;  and  must  be  so  con 
structed  as  to  obtain  these.  The  majority  will  be 
governed  by  their  interests.  The  Southern  States 
are  the  minority  in  both  Houses.  Is  it  to  be  expec 
ted  that  they  will  deliver  themselves  bound  hand  and 
foot  to  the  Eastern  States ;  and  enable  them  to  ex 
claim,  in  the  words  of  Cromwell  upon  a  certain  oc 
casion:  "The  Lord  hath  delivered  them  into  our 
hands  ?  " 

Notwithstanding  the  members  of  the  Convention 
saw  plainly  the  necessity  of  giving  a  defensive  pow 
er  to  sections  in  the  Constitution,  yet,  unfortunately 
for  the  peace  of  the  country,  they  adopted  no  pro 
vision  for  the  purpose.  It  is  evident^  from  the  pub 
lished  debates,  that  such  a  defensive  power  was  not 
provided,  from  an  apprehension  that  the  additional 
inequalities  of  powers  in  the  departments  of  the 
government,  which  a  provision  adequate  for  this  pur 
pose  would  constitute,  might  peril  the  ratification  of 
the  system  by  the  people.  If  such  a  power  had 
been  given  in  the  Constitution,  the  controversies  and 
jealousies  that  have  arisen  between  the  sections  in 
the  past,  would  have  been  avoided :  and  there  would 
have  been  no  occasion  for  the  discussion  of  the  ques 
tion  of  the  right  of  secession,  which  is  practically 
only  a  question  of  the  right  of  peaceable  revolution. 

But  our  experience  in  the  past  is  chiefly  valuable 
for  the  light  it  throws  upon  the  path  of  our  duty  in 
the  future.  Whether,  under  the  circumstances  of  the 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  197 

people  of  tho  two  sections  at  the  time  of  the  adop 
tion  of  the  Constitution,  a  defensive  power  to  sec 
tions  was  necessary  or  not,  it  is  evident  that,  with 
the  great  subsequent  increase  of  population,  and 
vast  development  of  resources,  not  only  in  the  Nor 
thern  and  Southern,  but  in  the  other  great  divisions 
of  the  country,  such  a  power  is  now  indispensable, 
not  only  to  secure  the  future  co-operation  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South,  but  to  preserve  the  union  between 
the  people  of  the  East,  West,  and  Pacific  Coast. 

We  believe  that,  if  a  defensive  power  to  the  dif 
ferent  sections  shall  be  given  in  the  government  it 
self,  all  controversies  and  jealousies  in  the  future 
will  be  prevented,  and  that,  with  this  security,  the 
Southern  States  will  be  induced  voluntarily  to  re 
sume  their  places  in  the  Union ;  and  the  people  of 
the  whole  country,  sadder  but  wiser  from  the  expe 
rience  they  have  suffered,  will  heartily  cooperate  for 
the  accomplishment  of  the  great  mission  which  we 
still  hope  God  has  designed  for  the  people  of  this 
continent.  With  nothing  to  excite  ill-feeling,  the 
people  of  each  section  will  continue  to  develop  their 
peculiar  form  of  civilization  under  the  beneficent  and 
harmonizing  influences  of  free  institutions  j  and  all 
jealousies  against  the  General  Government  being  re 
moved,  there  will  spring  up  in  the  hearts  of  the  peo 
ple  a  spirit  of  national  unity,  which  will  be  confirmed 
and  strengthened  with  the  growth  of  the  population 
and  development  of  the  resources  of  the  country. 


198  THE    CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

But  it  may  be  contended  that,  if  the  concurrence 
of  the  people  of  all  the  sections  is  required  in  the 
enactment  of  laws,  the  Government  will  be  necessa 
rily  weak.      On  the  contrary,  such   a   requirement 
would  give  to  it  additional  strength.     It  would  bring 
to  the  support  of  its  measures  the  people  represent 
ing  every  interest  of  the  country,  instead  of,  as  now, 
those  representing  only    the    majority    interests. 
When  we  refer  to  the  strength  of  a  government,  we 
should  remember  there  are  two  classes  of  govern 
ments  ;  the  one  Depending  for  its  strength  upon  its 
independence  of  the  consent   of  the  governed,  and 
the  other  depending  for  its  strength  upon  the  volun 
tary  consent  of  the  governed.      Our  government  is 
of  the  latter  class.     Its  strength  depends  upon  the 
approval  of  its  measures  by  the  people,  and  the  lar 
ger  the  numbers  that  approve  its  acts — especially  if 
they  represent  the  different  interests  of  the  country 
— -the  greater  the  strength  of  the  government.    The 
truth  of  this  is  verified  by  many  instances  in  our  ex 
perience.     The  disaffections  in  New-England,  which 
deprived  the  country  of  the  cordial  support  of  her 
people  in  the  war  of  1812,  and  the  disturbance  in 
South- Carolina  in  1830,  resulted  from  the  exercise 
of  powers  by  the  General  Government  without  the 
concurrence  of  the  people  of  all  the  sections. 

The  grant  of  such  a  defensive  power  to  sections 
would  undoubtedly  tend  to  modify  the  legislation  of 
the  General  Government.  It  would  restrict  action 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  199 

upon  subjects  affecting  the  different  interests  of  the 
sections,  and  prevent  the  passage  of  acts  for  the 
promotion  of  the  interests  of  the  majority,  to  the 
prejudice  of  those  of  the  minority,  except  with  the 
consent  of  the  latter.  Upon  referring  to  the  pow 
ers  delegated  to  the  General  Government  by  the  Con 
stitution,  it  will  be  seen  that  there  are  but  few  sub 
jects  within  their  legitimate  reach  upon  which  there 
would  exist  a  difference  of  opinion  between  the  peo 
ple  of  the  several  sections ;  and  that,  even  if  legis 
lation  upon  those  subjects  which  affect  the  different 
interests  of  sections  should  be  confined  to  the  adop 
tion  of  such  measures  only  as  would  promote  equally 
the  interests  of  all,  no  interest  would  seriously  suf 
fer.  Bnt  it  would  not  be  thus  confined.  Bach  sec 
tion  having  peculiar  interests,  mutual  concessions 
would  be  made,  and  the  legislation  would  conform  to 
the  highest  interests  of  the  whole  people. 

The  importance  of  giving  such  a  defensive  power 
to  sections  cannot  be  overestimated.  Without  it; 
the  American  system  cannot  be  sustained  in  the  fu 
ture.  It  is  not  to  be  disguised  that  there  are  many 
influential  men  in  power,  and  connected  with  it,  who 
are  enemies  of  the  American  system,  and  determined 
upon  its  overthrow.  They  would  build  upon  its  ru 
ins  a  new  and,  as  they  assert,  a  stronger  govern 
ment,  based  upon  powers  independent  of  the  consent 
of  the  governed.  Some  boldly  proclaim  their  pur 
pose  ;  others,  knowing  the  strength  of  the  attach- 


200  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

ment  of  the  people  to  the  principles  of  the  system 
they  would  subvert,  seek  to  promote  their  object 
through  a  system  of  covert  and  indirect  attacks- 
Appreciating  the  defenceless  position  of  the  system, 
and  believing  that  it  can  only  be  preserved  through 
the  adoption  of  additional  securities,  they  protest 
strongly  against  all  compromises  and  guarantees,  and 
point  to  our  difficulties  in  the  past,  which  were  occa 
sioned  by  a  deficiency  of  guarantees,  as  proof  that 
the  principles  of  the  system  are  inadequate  for  the 
exigencies  of  the  country. 

It  is  also  strongly  asserted  by  the  enemies  of  the 
system,  that  additional  defensive  powers  to  sections 
are  called  for,  only  to  satisfy  imperious  demands  of 
the  people  of  the  South.  This  is  untrue.  Although 
indispensable  to  secure  their  voluntary  co-operation, 
they  are  not  less  important  for  the  protection  of  the 
rights  and  interests  of  the  people  of  the  other  sec 
tions,  in  the  future. 

Upon  the  sectional  questions  out  of  which  our 
present  difficulties  sprung,  the  people  of  the  West 
acted  with  the  people  of  the  East.  But  if  the 
Union  shall  be  restored,  without  the  adoption  of  ad 
ditional  guarantees  for  sections,  new  jealousies  and 
questions  of  conflict  of  interests  will  arise,  upon 
which  the  people  of  the  East  cannot  expect  the  co 
operation  of  the  people  of  the  West.  Heretofore 
the  political  action  of  the  West  has  been  largely  in 
fluenced  by  the  dependence  of  its  interests  upon  the 


THE   CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.  201 

capital  of  the  East;  but  when,  with  the   develop 
ment  of  its  resources,  it  is  relieved  of  this  depen 
dence,  its  people  will  be  governed  in  their  political 
action  by  the  controlling  interests  of  their  section. 
The  great  interest  of  the  West,  as  of  the  South,  is 
agriculture ;  and  this  will  inevitably  insure  political 
co-operation  between  the  people  of  these  sections 
upon  all  important  questions  that  may  arise  in  the 
future,  from  conflicts  of  interests.     It  is  plain  that 
the  people  of  the  Eastern  States  cannot,  in  the  fu 
ture,  exert  the  control  they  have  in  the  past,  over 
the  people  of  other  sections ;  and  that,  within    a 
brief  period,  the  various  agricultural  interests  of  the 
country  will  be  able  to  control  the  legislation  of  the 
General  Government.     When  that  time  shall  come> 
the  people  of  the  Eastern  States  will  fully  appreci 
ate  the  importance  of  defensive  powers  to  sections, 
in  the  organism  of  the  Government. 

We  can  have  no  doubt  of  the  ultimate  triumph  of 
the  American  system  over  its  enemies,  if  the  educa* 
ted  conservative  men  of  the  country  shall  prove 
faithful  in  the  performance  of  their  duties.  The 
friends  of  the  system  are  not  confined  to  the  con- 
servative  party  of  the  country.  Many  influential 
members  and  presses  of  the  Administration  party 
are  among  its  zealous  defenders,  and  there  are  plain 
indications  that  they  are  not  blind  to  the  dangers  to 
which  the  system  is  exposed.  But,  more  important 
than  these,  history  proves  how  difficult  it  is  for  the 


202  THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY. 

executives  of  government  to  effect  a  permanent 
change  in  the  institutions  of  a  country,  even  amid 
the  distractions  of  civil  war. 

Although  there  have  been  not  infrequent  instances, 
in  the  history  of  civilized  nations,  of  patient  submis 
sion  to  usurpations  and  gross  perversions  of  the  pow 
ers  of  government  during  the  pendency  of  a  great 
struggle,  yet,  in  nearly  every  instance,  when  the  cri 
sis  had  passed,  the  people  have  demanded  and  ob 
tained,  often  after  a  protracted  struggle,  a  return  to 
the  principles  and  system  of  government  with 
which  all  their  habits  of  thought  and  recollections 
of  the  past  were  indentified. 

We  believe  this  struggle  will  tend  to  confirm  the 
attachment  of  the  people  to  the  principles  of  the 
American  system.  They  have  been  educated  under  ? 
and  all  their  recollections  of  the  past  are  connected 
with,  the  most  beneficent  system  of  government  the 
world  has  ever  known.  For  nearly  eighty  years,  we 
and  our  fathers  enjoyed  the  most  ample  protection 
ever  afforded  by  any  system  of  government,  without 
the  imposition  of  a  burden  that  could  be  felt.  The 
evils  that  have  befallen  the  country  have  not  resul 
ted  from  any  defect  in  the  principles  of  the  system, 
but  from  the  insufficiency  of  the  provisions  for  the 
prevention  of  jealousies  and  conflicts  between  the 
people  representing  the  different  great  interests  of 
the  country.  And  when  the  passions  and  excite 
ments  of  the  struggle  are  over,  we  believe  the  peo- 


THE  CAUSE  AND  THE  REMEDY.          203 

pie  will  return  to  the  system  with  a  love  stronger 
than  in  the  past ;  and,  profiting  by  the  terrible  ex 
perience*  through  which  they  shall  have  passed,  will, 
without  the  change  of  a  single  principle,  adopt  ad 
ditional  guarantees,  which  will  insure  to  each  great  • 
interest  and  section  such  ample  protection  tha 
there  will  be  no  opportunity,  even  for  jealousy,  in 
the  future. 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT/ 


There  are  no  facts  in  the  experience  of  a  Govern 
ment  more  deserving  of  thorough  investigation  by 
the  student  of  political  history,  than  those  which  re 
late  to  periods  of  popular  discontents,  from  which 
no  government  of  any  considerable  antiquity  has 
ever  enjoyed  immunity. 

It  is  from  the  study  of  the  history  of  such  periods 
that  we  learn  the  defects  of  the  system  of  govern 
ment,  or  discover  the  impolicy  with  which  it  has 
been  administered.  Although  in  times  of  peace  and 
quiet  the  causes  which  produce  discontent  may  be 
actively  at  work,  yet  they  are  often  so  remote  as  to 
escape  the  attention  of  contemporaneous  statesmen; 
or/ if  detected  and  explained,  their  operations  are 
so  intermingled  with  the  general  and  prosperous 
current  of  public  affairs,  that  it  is  difficult  to  per 
suade  those  who  administer  the  Government  of  their 
importance,  or  of  the  dangers  with  which  they  are 
fraught. 

^Published  in  the  Southern  Review,  July,  1868. 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        205 

But  when  popular  discontents  come,  and  events 
happen  which  interfere  with  the  harmonious  co-oper 
ation  of  the  Government  and  the  people,  the  exist 
ence  and  operations  of  influential  disturbing  causes 
are  no  longer  doubtful,  and  an  investigation  of  their 
origin  and  progress  is  demanded  by  the  exigencies 
which  are  created. 

But,  important  as  is  an  accurate  knowledge  of  the 
causes  of  an  existing  discontent  by  the  Government, 
that  it  may  devise  a  permanent  remedy,  yet  experi 
ence  has  shown  that  this  knowledge  is  rarely  attained 
during  the  continuance  of  the  discontent.  Indeed 
it  is  doubtful  if  any  instance  can  be  adduced  from 
history,  of  a  discontent  culminating  in  actual  conflict, 
which  the  Government  at  tho  time  attributed  to  the 
real  causes.  The  explanation  of  this  is  to  be  sought 
in  the  fallibility  of  those  who  administer  the  Gov 
ernment,  and  in  the  complicated  circumstances  con 
nected  with  the  origin  and  development  of  the  causes 
themselves. 

In  a  large  majority  of  instances)  the  formidable 
discontents  which  have  arisen  in  civilized  communi 
ties  have  had  their  origin  in  systematic  oppression 
of  the  people  by  the  Government,  or  in  the  destruc 
tion  of  those  securities  against  future  oppression 
which  the  people  have  acquired,  often  through  des 
perate  struggles,  and  for  the  preservation  of  which 
they  are  animated  with  the  greatest  jealousy  and 
zeal.  Although  in  the  progress  of  discontents  other 


206        CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

causes  have  frequently  supervened,  and  sometimes 
partizan  or  moral  and  religious  forces  have  been 
brought  into  requisition,  yet  they  have  served  in 
each  instance  only  to  accelerate  and  give  intensity 
to,  rather  than  retard  the  progress  of,  the  great  pri 
mary  causes. 

In  the  instances  of  discontent  which  have  resulted 
from  measures  of  Government  either  indiscriminate 
ly  oppressive  of  all  the  great  interests  of  the  people 
or  subversive  of  their  securities,  the  connection  be 
tween  cause  and  effect  would  seem  to  be  too  plain 
to  admit  of  any  doubt.  Yet  in  these  instances, 
when  the  measures  of  the  Government  have  not 
been  adopted  for  the  tyrannical  and  wicked  purpose 
of  oppressing  the  people,  those  in  authority  have 
rarely  comprehended,  and  more  seldom  acknowl 
edged  at  the  time,  the  real  origin  of  the  dissatisfac 
tion.  In  the  adoption  of  the  obnoxious  measures 
they  have  been  governed  by  erroneous  views  of  their 
relations  to  the  people,  and  have  proceeded  upon 
the  assumption,  that  their  paramount  duty  was  to 
maintain  and  strengthen  the  prerogatives  of  govern 
ment,  and  that  the  interests  of  the  people  should 
always  be  subordinate  to  any  policy  which  they 
might  deem  expedient  for  this  purpose.  Their  plea 
has  invariably  been  the  exigencies  of  the  State. 
They  have  consequently  treated  as  groundless  all 
complaints  of  the  people  which  have  followed  upon 
the  adoption  of  their  measures,  and  attributed  their 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       207 

inevitable  discontents  to  the  prevalence  of  a  spirit 
of  insubordination  and  sedition.  It  has  been  only 
when  the  discontents  have  become  so  formidable  as 
to  cause  serious  alarm;  that  they  have  been  led  to 
an  impartial  consideratior,  of  the  real  causes,  which 
they  have  often  comprehended  and  acknowledged 
too  late  to  prevent  the  overthrow  of  the  govern 
ment. 

In  the  more  frequent  instances  of  discontent  which 
have  resulted  from  measures  of  government  oppress 
ive  of  a  portion  only  of  the  great  interests  of  the 
people,  or  endangering  their  securities,  the  investiga 
tion  of  the  causes  is  often,  at  the  time,  a  more  diffi 
cult  and  complicated  task.  The  oppressive  meas 
ures  may  have  been  adopted  by  those  who  adminis 
tered  the  Government,  from  the  best  of  motives,  and 
with  a  sincere  desire  to  subserve  the  highest  inter 
ests  of  the  people.  Their  authors  may  have  been 
insensibly  under  the  undue  influence  of  the  impor 
tant  interests  which  their  measures  tended  to  pro 
mote  to  the  prejudice  of  the  rest,  and  have  deemed 
the  policy  they  have  adopted  necessary  for  their 
successful  operation,  without  sufficiently  weighing 
the  effect  upon  other  interests ;  or  they  may  have 
acted  without  a  knowledge  of  the  requirements  of 
such  other  interests,  especially  when  those  interests 
have  been  local  and  remote  from  the  seat  of  Gov 
ernment,  or  not  ably  represented  in  its  administra 
tion. 


208       CAUSES  or  SECTIONAL  DISCOXTj 

The  complaints  of  the  people  representing  such 
oppressed  interests  have  been  addressed  not  only  to 
the  administrators  of  Government,  but  to  the  peo 
ple  representing  the  favored  interests,  whose  opin 
ions  would  be  naturally  and  strongly  in  support  of 
the  measures  complained  of,  and  who  have  invaria 
bly  co-operated  with  the  Government  to  sustain  and 
vindicate  its  policy  upon  the  most  plausible  pretexts. 
The  Government  in  these  instances  has  had  the  nu 
merical  and  moral  strength  of  a  large  party  of  the 
people  deeply  interested  in  the  support  of  its  meas 
ures.  Partisan  and  local  feelings  have  been  strong 
ly  enlisted  in  their  favor  and  added  intensity  to  the 
discontent,  which,  when  not  allayed  by  a  repeal  of 
the  obnoxious  measures,  lias  invariably  resulted  in 
most  bitter  and  sanguinary  conflicts. 

That  measures  of  government  thus  generally  con 
stitute  the  primary  cause  of  popular  discontents,  not 
only  experience,  but  a  knowledge  of  the  nature  of 
mankind  furnishes  abundant  proof.  It  is  difficult  to 
conceive  of  a  discontent  pervading  large  and  intel 
ligent  classes  of  people,  or  entire  communities,  and 
resulting  in  forcible  resistance  to  the  authorities, 
which  did  not  have  its  origin  ia  the  conduct  of  the 
Government.  The  people,  unless  actuated  by  the 
belief  that  systematic  measures  of  Government  are 
unjust  and  oppressive  of  their  interests,  or  subver 
sive  of  their  just  securities,  can  have  no  adequate 
motive  for  making  the  vast  sacrifices,  and  incurring 


CAUSES  OF  SEC'IIONAL  hlSCONTEXT.       i>()<) 

the  tremendous  responsibilities,  which  a  resistance 
to  the  Government  necessarily  involves.  Every  in 
terest  of  the  people  is  on  the  side  of  peace  and  tran 
quillity.  When  the  conduct  of  the  Government  is 
substantially  just,  the  tendency  in  the  people  is  to  an 
affection  for  it.  They  have  lived  under  and  enjoyed 
its  protection,  and  have  learned  to  conform  their 
opinions,  habits,  and  modes  of  thought  to  its  require 
ments.  Even  when  the  form  of  the  Government  is 
arbitrary,  the  people  become  accustomed  to  its  rule, 
and  endure  occasional  oppression  not  only  without 
complaint,  but  without  destroying  their  feelings  of 
attachment  to  it.  In  the  words  of  the  American 
Declaration  of  Independence  "All  experience  hath 
shown  that  mankind  are  more  disposed  to  suffer 
while  evils  are  sufferable  than  to  right  themselves  by 
abolishing  the  forms  to  which  they  are  accustomed." 
But,  while  it  is  true  that  the  primary  causes  of 
great  popular  discontents  are  to  be  sought  in  op 
pressive  or  dangerous  measures  of  Government,  yet 
experience  has  proved  that  in  the  progress  of  the 
discontents,  the  people  often  act  without  reasonable 
prudence  or  discretion.  It  rarely  happens  that 
they  are  wise  in  their  modes  of  seeking  redress,  or 
judicious  in  the  extent  of  their  demands.  They  feel 
that  their  important  interests  are  disregarded,  or 
their  securities  imperilled,  often  without  comprehen 
ding  fully  the  most  expedient  remedy.  The  strong 
est  passions  are  aroused.  The  people  are  inflamed 


210      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

by  mutual  contact,  and  not  infrequently  a,ct  with 
reckless  impetuosity,  and  rush  madly  into  the  great 
est  dangers,  from  which  they  cannot  reasonably  hope 
for  a  successful  issue. 

It  is  our  purpose  in  this  article  to  make  an  inqui 
ry  into  the  primary  causes  of  the  three  great  dis 
contents  which  have  existed  in  this  Country  since 
the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution ; — the  dis 
content  of  New  England  in  the  war  of  1812;  the 
discontent  of  South  Carolina  in  1832;  and  the  dis 
content  which  pervaded  the  Southern  States  in 
1860;  and  to  show  the  modes  of  redress,  and  the 
nature  of  the  interposition  proposed  or  adopted,  in 
each  instance,  by  the  disaffected,  against  the  author 
ities  of  the  United  States. 

In  this  inquiry  we  propose  to  confine  ourselves 
principally  to  the  evidence  furnished  in  each  instance 
by  the  authoritative  statements  and  declarations  of 
the  disaffected.  This  is  proposed,  not  that  it  is  the 
only  evidence  upon  the  subject,  or  that  it  is  conclu 
sive  ;  but  because  it  is  evidence  which  is  important 
and  in  its  nature  unmistakable,  and  because  it  has 
not  generally  received  that  consideration  to  which 
we  believe  it  is  entitled  in  discussions  of  the  causes 
of  discontents.  The  evidence  is  important.  For  if 
grievances  exist,  those  who  suffer,  or  deem  their  im 
portant  interests  endangered  by  them,  are  best  ca 
pable  of  judging  of  their  nature,  and  have  the 
strongest  motives  for  tracing  their  antecedents.  Be- 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       211 

sides,  history  teaches  that  the  causes  to  which  dis 
contented  communities  have  at  the  time  attributed 
their  dissatisfactions,  have  been  generally  determin 
ed  by  the  calm  and  dispassionate  judgment  of 
posterity  to  be  the  corre3t  ones.  The  importance 
of  this  evidence  in  our  own  experience  will  be  more 
manifest,  if  it  shall  appear  upon  investigation,  as  we' 
think  it  will,  that  in  the  several  discontents  to  which 
we  have  referred,  occurring  at  different  periods,  per 
vading  the  people  of  different  sections,  and  arising 
under  different  circumstances,  the  discontented  in 
each  instance  attributed  their  grievances  to  the  same 
general  primary  causes ; '  and  if  it  shall  also  appear 
that  the  causes  stated  have  been  adequate  to  pro 
duce  the  results,  and  that,  under  our  system  of  Gov- 
ernnent  as  organized  by  the  Constitution,  there  has 
been  opportunity  for  their  operations. 

The  primary  causes  of  all  our  discontents,  accor 
ding  to  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  disaffected 
at  the  different  periods,  are  to  be  sought  in  attempts, 
or  apprehended  attempts,  by  the  majority  of  the 
aggregate  people  of  the  country  representing  the 
great  interests  of  a  section,  or  by  a  combination  of 
the  people  representing  the  great  interests  of  differ 
ent  sections,  to  subordinate  to  their  requirements, 
through  measures  of  the  General  Government,  the 
people  representing  the  interests  of  the  weaker  sec 
tions.  It  requires  no  argument  to  prove  that,  in  a 
country  with  such  a  variety  of  great  interests,  geo- 


212      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

graphically  separated,  as  exist  in  the  United  States, 
the  danger  of  such  attempts  is  always  imminent, 
unless  such  effectual  checks  are  provided  in  the  or 
ganism  of  the  Government  itself,  as  to  preclude  the 
reasonable  probability  of  their  being  successful. 

In  the  Constitution  careful  provisions  were  made 
with  a  view  to  prevent  the  exercise  of  such  power. 
The  authority  of  the  Federal  Government  which  it 
created,  was  expressly  limited,  its  power  distributed 
among  different' departments,  and  in  one  branch  of 
the  Legislative  Department,  the  Senate,  an  equal 
representation  was  given  to  all  the  States ;  so  that 
no  law  could  be  enacted  without  the  concurrence  of 
a  majority  of  the  States.  In  addition  to  the  securi 
ty  to  minority  interests,  which  these  protective  pro 
visions  in  the  organism  of  the  Government  would 
give,  it  was  believed  that  the  fact  that  the  several 
communities  of  each  great  section  were  to  retain 
their  political  organizations,  through  which  they 
could  easily  combine  to  resist  encroachments  upon 
their  rights,  or  the  rights  and  liberties  of  their  peo 
ple,  would  tend  strongly  to  discourage  partial  legis 
lation  by  the  Federal  Government. 

These  securities  were  provided  in  accordance  with 
the  requirements  which  it  was  supposed  the  circum 
stances  of  the  country  at  the  time  demanded.  The 
only  sections  then  peopled  were  the  Eastern  and 
Southern,  and  between  the  interests  of  these  sec 
tions,  the  Constitution  established  a  balance  of  pow- 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       213 

er  which  it  was  deemed  would  afford  to  each  ample 
protection. 

But  such  was  the  wonderful  development  of  the 
country,  that  within  twenty-five  years  after  the 
adoption  of  the  Constitution,  five  new  States  were 
admitted  into  the  Union,  one  by  the  separation  of 
Vermont  from  New  York,  and/owr  from  the  recent 
ly  settled  territories  of  the  West  and  South-West. 
The  admission  of  these  States,  and  their  consequent 
representation  in  the  Federal  Government,  materi 
ally  changed  the  balance  of  power  of  the  different 
interests,  as  the  interests  of  a  majority  of  the  States 
and  people  admitted  were  largely  indentified  with 
the  interests  of  the  South. 

With  their  adir  ission  sprung  up  jealousies  in  the 
Eastern  section,  as  the  Southern  and  South  Western 
States  had  the  power  to  control  the  legislation  of 
the  Federal  Government. 

Opportunities  for  the  exhibition  of  this  feeling  of 
jealousy  were  afforded  in  the  circumstances  and  pol 
icies  which  preceded,  and  culminated  in,  the  war  with 
England  in  1812.  The  predominant  interest  of  the 
Eastern  States  at  that  time  was  commerce,  and  that 
of  the  Southern  and  South  Western  States  agricul 
ture.  The  Embargo  act,  which  went  into  operation 
in  1808,  and  the  Non-intercourse  Act  passed  in  1809 
in  retaliation  for  the  restriction  imposed  upon  our 
commerce  by  France,  in  the  adoption  of  the  Berlin 
and  Milan  decrees,  and  by  Great  Britain  in  the 


214       CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

adoption  of  the  British  Orders  in  Council,  operated 
most  injuriously  upon  our  commerce ;  and  the  com 
mercial  States  looked  forward  to  a  war  with  Eng 
land,  which  it  was  believed  must  result,  as  ruinous 
to  the  interests  and  destructive  of  the  prosperity  of 
their  section.  So  strong  was  the  feeling  excited 
against  the  restrictive  policy  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment,  that,  although  the  war  with  England  which 
followed  was  declared  for  the  purpose  of  prevent 
ing  foreign  interference  with  our  commerce,  and  for 
the  protection  of  our  seamen,  yet  it  early  met  with 
a  spirit  of  the  most  determined  opposition  from  the 
coirimercial  States. 

The  feeling  of  opposition  to  the  war  in  the  com 
mercial  States  increased  with  the  progress  of  the 
struggle,  and  the  adoption  of  the  measures  which 
were  deemed  by  the  Federal  Government  necessary 
for  its  successful  prosecution.  In  October,  1814, 
in  response  to  memorials  from  a  large  number  of 
towns,  a  resolution  was  reported  in  the  House  of 
Representatives  of  Massachusetts,  "That  twelve 
persons  be  appointed  as  delegates  from  this  Com 
monwealth  to  meet  and  confer  with  delegates  from 
the  other  New  England  States,  or  any  other,  upon 
the  subject  of  their  public  grievances  and  concerns," 
&c.,  which  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of  260  to  90. 
The  Senate  concurred  in  the  resolution,  and  on  the 
18th  of  October  both  Houses  in  convention  elected 
the  delegates  by  a  vote  of  226  to  67.  The  Legis- 


CA  USES  OF  SE CT10NAL  DISCONTENT.        215 

lature  directed  that  copies  of  their  proceedings  be 
transmitted  to  the  authorities  of  the  several  States. 
The  Legislatures  of  Connecticut  and  Rhode  Island 
were  then  in  session  and  immediately  passed  reso 
lutions  in  favor  of  such  a  convention,  and  elected 
delegates.  The  Legislature  of  Connecticut  desig 
nated  the  15th  day  of  December  following  for  its 
convocation.  The  Legislatures  of  New  Hampshire 
and  Vermont  were  not  in  session,  but  delegates 
were  appointed  from  one  or  more  counties  of  each. 
The  convention  assembled  at  the  time  designated, 
and  continued  in  secret  session-  for  three  weeks. 
The  result  of  its  deliberations  was  embodied  fti  a 
report  which  wao  signed  by  all  the  members,  copies 
of  which  were  directed  to  be  transmitted  to  the 
Governors  of  the  several  New  England  States. 

This  report  is  of  great  importance  as  the  author 
itative  statement  of  the  people  of  New  England 
upon  the  subject  of  the  alleged  grievances  which  had 
produced  the  wide-spread  discontent  which  then  pre 
vailed.  The  convention  was  composed  of  delegates 
elected  by  the  Legislatures  of  three  of  the  New 
England  States,  and  by  conventions  of  the  people 
in  the  other  two.  The  members  of  the  convention 
were  the  ablest  representative  men  of  New  England. 
The  report,  with  a  copy  of  the  proceedings  of  the 

convention,  excepting  the  debates,  is  published  in 
the  volume  of  Mr.  D  wight,  who  was  secretary    of 

the  convention. 


216       CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

Upon  the  question  of  the  primary  causes  of  the 
discontent,  the  report  says,  "Events  may  prove  that 
the  causes  of  our  calamities  are  deep  and  permanent. 
They  may  be  found  to  proceed,  not  merely  from  the 
blindness  of  prejudice,  pride  of  opinion,  violence  of 
party  spirit,  or  the  confusion  of  the  times ;  but  they 
may  be  traced  to  implacable  combinations  of  indi 
viduals,  or  of  States,  to  monopolize  power  and  of 
fice,  and  to  trample  without  remorse  upon  the  rights 
and  interests  of  commercial  sections  of  the  Union. 
Whenever  it  shall  appear  that  these  causes  are  rad 
ical  and  permanent,  a  separation  by  equitable  ar 
rangement  will  be  preferable  to  an  alliance  by  con 
straint,  among  nominal  friends,  but  real  enemies, 
inflamed  by  mutual  hatred  and  jealousy,  and  invi 
ting,  by  intestine  divisions,  contempt  and  aggressions 
from  abroad."  Referring  to  the  past  policy  of  the 
Government,  the  report  says,  "The  administration, 
after  a  long  perseverance  in  plans  to  baffle  every  ef 
fort  of  commercial  enterprise,  had  fatally  succeeded 
in  their  attempts  at  the  epoch  of  the  war.  Com 
merce,  the  vital  spring  of  New  England's  prosperity, 
was  annihilated.  Embargoes,  restrictions,  and  the 
rapacity  of  revenue  officers,  had  completed  its  de 
struction.  The  various  objects  for  the  employment 
of  productive  labor,  in  the  branches  of  business  de 
pendent  on  commerce,  have  disappeared.  The  fish 
eries  have  shared  its  fate.  Manufactures,  which 
government  has  professed  an  intention  to  favor  and 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        217 

to  cherish,  as  an  indemnity  for  the  failure  of  these 
branches  of  business,  are  doomed  to  struggle  in  their 
infancy  with  taxes  and  obstructions,  which  cannot 
fail  most  seriously  to  affect  their  growth."  Of  the 
danger  to  which  the  commercial  States,  being  in  the 
minority,  were  subject  to,  the  report  says,  "Whatever 
theories  upon  the  subject  of  commerce  have  hitherto 
divided  the  opinions  of  statesmen,  experience  has  at 
last  shown  that  it  is  a  vital  interest  in  the  United 
States,  and  that  its  success  is  essential  to.  the  en 
couragement  of  agriculture  and  manufactures,  and 
to  the  wealth,  finances,  defence,  and  liberty  of  the 
nation.  Its  welfare  can  never  interfere  with  the 
other  great  interests  of  the  State,  but  must  promote 
and  uphold  them.  Still,  those  who  are  immediately 
concerned  in  the  prosecution  of  commerce  will  of 
necessity  be  always  a  minority  of  the  nation.  They 
are,  however,  best  qualified  to  manage  and  direct  its 
course  by  the  advantages  of  experience,  and  the 
sense  of  interest.  But  they  are  entirely  unable  to 
protect  themselves  against  the  sudden  and  injudi 
cious  decisions  of  bare  majorities,  and  the  mistaken 
or  oppressive  projects  of  those  who  are  not  actively 
concerned  in  its  pursuits.  Of  consequence,  this  in 
terest  is  always  exposed  to  be  harassed,  interrupted 
and  entirely  destroyed  upon  pretence  of  securing 
other  interests."  And  further,  "No  union  can  be 
durably  cemented,  in  which  every  great  interest 
does  not  find  itself  reasonably  secured  against  the 


218      CA  USES  OF  SE  CT10NA  L  D\  S CONTENT. 

encroachments  and  combinations  of  other  interests." 
The  convention  adopted  resolutions  recommend 
ing  the  Legislatures  of  the  several  States  repre 
sented  to  authorize  immediate  and  earnest  applica 
tion  to  be  made  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  requesting  its  consent  to  some  arrangement 
whereby  these  States  might  assume  the  defence  of 
their  territory,  and  be  allowed  a  portion  of  their 
taxes  for  the  expense  of  the  same;  and  recommen 
ding  that  the  Governors  of  each  of  these  States  be 
authorized  by  their  Legislatures  to  raise  and  equip 
men  for  the  purpose  of  repelling  any  invasion  of 
their  territory,  which  should  be  .made  or  attempted 
by  the  public  enemy.  It  also  proposed  amendments 
to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  to  the  fol 
lowing  effect:  1st.  That  Representatives  and  direct 
taxes  should  be  apportioned  among  the  several 
States  according  to  their  respective  numbers  of  free 
persons.  2nd.  That  no  new  State  be  admitted  with 
out  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  both  houses. 
3rd.  That  Congress  should  not  have  power  to  lay 
any  embargo  on  vessels  for  more  than  sixty  days.  • 
4th.  That  Congress  should  not  have  power  to  inter 
dict  commercial  intercourse  with  other  countries, 
without  the  concurrence  of  two-thirds  of  both  houses. 
5th.  That  Congress  should  not  make  or  declare  any 
war  with  a  foreign  power,  without  the  concurrence 
of  two-thirds  of  both  houses^  6th.  That  no  person 
thereafter  naturalized,  should  hold  any  civil  office 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        219 

under  the  authority  of  the  United  States.  And  7th. 
That  the  same  person  should  not  be  elected  Presi 
dent  of  the  United  States  a  second  time,  nor  a 
President  be  elected  from  the  same  State  twice  in 
succession. 

Upon  the  proposed  amendment  relating  to  the 
admission  of  new  States,  the  report  says,  "This 
amendment  is  deemed  to  be  highly  important,  and 
in  fact  indispensable.  In  proposing  it,  it  is  not  in 
tended  to  recognize  the  right  of  Congress  to  admit 
new  States  without  the  original  limits  of  the  United 
States,  nor  is  any  idea  entertained  of  disturbing  the 
tranquillity  of  any  State  already  admitted  into  the 
Union.  The  object  is  merely  to  restrain  the  con 
stitutional  power  of  Congress  in  admitting  new 
States.  At  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  a  cer 
tain  balance  of  power  among  the  original  parties 
was  considered  to  exist,  and  there  was  at  that  time, 
and  yet  is  among  those  parties,  a  strong  affinity  be 
tween  their  great  and  general  interests.  By  the  ad 
mission  of  these  States  that  balance  has  been  mate 
rially  affected,  and  unless  the  practice  be  modified 
must  ultimately  be  destroyed.  The  Southern  States 
will  first  avail  themselves  of  their  new  confederates 
to  govern  the  East,  and  finally  the  Western  States, 
multiplied  in  numbers,  and  augmented  in  popula 
tion,  will  control  the  interests  of  the  whole.  Thus 
for  the  sake  of  present  power,  the  Southern  States 
will  be  common  sufferers  with  the  East,  in  the  loss 


220   CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

of  permanent  anvantages.  None  of  the  old  States 
can  find  an  interest  in  creating  prematurely  an  over 
whelming  Western  influence,  which  may  hereafter 
discern  (as  it  has  heretofore)  benefits  to  be  derived 
to  them  by  wars  and  commercial  restrictions." 

The  foregoing  extracts  show  plainly  the  causes 
to  which  the  convention  attributed  the  discontent  of 
the  people  of  New  England,  and  the  permanent 
remedies  they  deemed  essential  for  their  future  pro 
tection. 

The  convention  also  suggested  immediate  reme 
dies  in  the  event  that  its  complaints  should  be  un 
heeded  by  the  Federal  Government;  which  it  claimed 
might  be  legitimately  resorted  to.  A  recurrence  to 
them  is  important  both  to  show  the  spirit  that  actu 
ated  the  members  of  the  convention  and  to  explain 
the  views  of  the  people  of  New  England  at  that 
early  period  upon  the  rights  of  the  States. 

The  report  of  the  convention  states,  "That  acts 
of  Congress  in  violation  of  the  constitution  are  ab 
solutely  void,  is  an  undeniable  position.  It  does 
not,  however,  consist  with  the  respect  and  forbear 
ance  due  from  a  confederate  State  towards  the  Gen 
eral  Government,  to  fly  to  open  resistance  upon 
every  infraction  of  the  Constitution.  The  mode  and 
the  energy  of  the  opposition  should  always  conform 
to  the  nature  of  the  violation,  the  intention  of  its 
authors,  the  extent  of  the  injury  inflicted,  the  deter 
mination  manifested  to  persist  in  it,  and  the  danger 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.    211 

of  delay.  But  in  cases  of  deliberate,  dangerous, 
and  palpable  infractions  of  the  Constitution,  affect 
ing  the  sovereignty  of  a  State,  and  liberties  of  the 
people,  it  is  not  only  the  right  but  the  duty  of  such 
a  State  to  interpose  its  authority  for  their  protec 
tion,  iri  the  manner  best  calculated  to  secure  that 
end.  When  emergencies  occur  which  are  either  be 
yond  the  reach  of  the  judicial  tribunals,  or  too  press 
ing  to  admit  of  the  delay  incident  to  their  forms, 
States  which  have  no  common  umpire  must  be  their 
own  judges,  and  execute  their  own  decisions.  It 
will  thus  be,  proper  for  the  several  States  to  await  the 
ultimate  disposal  of  the  obnoxious  measures  recom 
mended  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  or  pending  before 
Congress  ;  and  so  to  use  their  power  according  to  the 
character  these  measures  shall  finally  assume,  as  ef 
fectually  to  protect  their  own  sovereignty,  and  the 
rights  and  liberties  of  their  citizens.'  It  further 
claimed  in  reference  to  the  rights  of  the  respective 
governments  that,  'it  is  as  much  the  duty  of  the 
State  authorities  to  watch  over  the  rights  reserved, 
as  of  the  United  States  to  exercise  the  powers  which 
are  delegated.'  The  convention  further  resolved 
that  if  the  application  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  should  be  unsuccessful,  if  peace  should 
not  be  concluded  and  the  defence  of  these  States 
should  continue  to  be  neglected,  then  it  would,  in  the 
opinion  of  the  convention,  'be  expedient  for  the  leg 
islatures  of  the  several  States  to'  appoint  delegates 


222       CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

to  another  convention,  to  meet  at  Boston,  in  the 
State  of  Massachusetts,  on  the  third  Thursday  of 
June  next,  with  such  powers  and  instructions  as  the 
exigency  of  a  crisis  so  momentous  may  require.' 

The  convention  adjourned  without  day,  January 
5th,  1815.  A  few  days  after  its  adjournment,  the 
treaty  of  peace  with  Great  Britain,  which  had  been 
signed  while  the  convention  was  in  session,  reached 
this  country  and  was  immediately  ratified  by  Con 
gress.  Thus  happily  the  immediate  cause  of  dissat 
isfaction  was  removed  and  the  discontent  allayed. 

The  passions  of  the  people,  which  had^  been  in 
tensely  excited  during  the  war,  soon  subsided  with 
its  termination.  In  the  general  rejoicing  upon  the 
return  of  peace,  partisan  and  sectional  animosities 
were  for  the  time  forgotton.  James  Monroe  was 
elected  President  in  1816,  having  received  the  unan 
imous  vote  of  every  electoral  college  but  three,  and 
re-elected  in  1820,  having  received  every  electorial 
vote  but  one.  The  epoch  of  his  administra 
tion  has  been  often  referred  to  as  the  era  of  good 
feeling.  Yet  during  this  period,  causes  were  at 
work  which  were  destined  to  result  in  discontent  of 
a  most  formidable  character.  The  exigencies  creat 
ed  by  the  war  afforded  the  opportunity  for  their  de 
velopments. 

A  large  public  debt  had  been  contracted,  for  the 
payment  of  which  it  was  necessary  that  extraordi 
nary  provisions  should  be  made.  In  1816  the 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        223 

Tariff  was  revised,  and  the  duties  on  imposts  large 
ly  increased.  The  revision  was  made  particularly 
with  a  view  to  revenue,  but  it  necessarily  operated 
to  give  incidently  increased  protection  to  domestic 
manufactures.  Encouraged  by  this  act,  and  by  the 
favorable  circumstances  of  the  country,  manufactures 
were  rapidly  developed,  and  before  the  close  of 
President  Monroe's  administration,  constituted  an 
important  and  influential  interest  in  large  sections 
of  the  country.  With  their  growth  came  demands 
for  still  further  protection,  and  in  the  Congress  of 
1823  and  1824  a  revision  of  the  tariff  of  1816  was 
proposed  with  a  view  to  discrimination  for  the  pur 
pose  of  protection.  This  proposition  was  warmly 
discussed.  The  friends  of  the  American  system,  as 
the  advocates  of  a  tariff  for  the  purpose  of  protec 
tion  styled  themselves,  claimed  that  additional  pro 
tection  was  needed,  temporarily,  at  least,  not  only  to 
secure  the  introduction  of  new  branches  of  manufac 
tures,  but  to  sustain  those  already  established.  They 
claimed  further,  that  although  manufactures  especial 
ly  benefitted  the  sections  of  the  country  in  which 
they  were  established,  yet  that  their  successful  op 
eration  inured  to  the  advantage  of  the  whole  country, 
by  increasing  its  aggregate  wealth  and  resources, 
and  by  relieving  it,  in  the  event  of  a  war,  of  all  de 
pendence  upon  the  manufactures  of  other  countries. 
The  enemies  of  a  protective  tariff  opposed  the  re 
vision  on  the  ground  that  the  Constitution  granted 


224          CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

no  express  power  to  the  Federal  Government  to  lay 
imposts  for  the  purpose  of  protection,  and  that  no 
such  power  could  be  legitimately  exercised  as  an  in 
cidental  right.  They  admitted  that,  under  the  Con 
stitution,  Congress  could  lay  imposts  to  defray  the 
necessary  expenses  of  the  Government,  which  might 
incidentally  operate  to  protect  domestic  manufac 
tures  ;  yet  that  Congress  had  no  authority  to  lay  a 
tariff  for  the  purpose  of  protection  to  which  the 
raising  of  a  revenue  would  be  incidental  and  subor 
dinate. 

They  also  contended  that  the  protection  of  the 
Government  was  not  necessary  to  the  healthful 
growth  of  manufactures,  and  that  the  principal  effect 
of  high  protective  duties  was  to  stimulate  manufac 
tures  unduly,  and  to  enrich  the  large  capitalists  who 
control  their  operations. 

They  asserted  further,  that  a  tariff  for  protection 
was  necessarily  based  upon  discriminations  injurious 
to  the  interests  of  the  staple-growing  States,  and 
that  it  deprived  the  people  of  those  States  of  the 
right  they  claimed,  of  selling  in  the  highest  market, 
and  purchasing  in  the  lowest. 

Notwithstanding  these  objections,  a  revision  of 
the  tariff  was  made  in  1 824,  by  which  largely  in  - 
creased  protection  was  given  to  domestic  manufac 
tures.  The  act  caused  great  dissatisfaction  among 
the  people  of  the  Southern  States.  But  it  was  ac 
quiesced  in,  with  the  hope  that  the  policy  it  embod- 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       225 

led  would  be  abandoned  upon  the  extinction  of  the 
public  debt,  which  it  was  believed  would  soon  be 
accomplished. 

In  1827  the  subject  was  again  agitated,  and  a  bill 
was  proposed  in  Congress  for  increased  protection  to 
woolens.  This  attracted  the  attention  of  those  en 
gaged  in  other  branches  of  manufactures,  and  was 
followed  by  a  convention  of  the  friends  of  a  high 
protective  tariff  at  Harrisburg,  in  July  of  the  same 
year.  The  manufacturers  of  cotton  and  woolen 
goods  of  the  Eastern  States ,  the  iron  manufacturers 
of  Pennsylvania  and  the  growers  of  wool  and  hemp 
of  the  Western  States  were  fully  represented  in  the 
convention.  It  was  difficult  to  harmonize  the  va 
rious  conflicting  interests  represented;  but,  after 
much  discussion,  a  system  of  increased  duties  was 
agreed  upon,  which  secured  the  co-operation  of  all 
the  large  manufacturers. 

In  the  next  Congress  the  subject  was  again  dis 
cussed,  upon  a  bill  proposing  largely  increased  pro 
tective  duties  on  all  articles  of  manufacture  ;  which 
passed  by  a  vote  of  105  to  95  in  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives,  and  by  a  vote  of  26  to  21  in  the  Senate 
and  was  approved  May  19,  1828.  The  passage  of 
this  act  and  the  determiuation  manifested  by  the  ma 
jority  to  make  the  system  of  protection  a  permanent 
one,  caused  great  excitement  and  intense  dissatis. 
faction  throughout  the  staple-growing  States,  which 
remonstrated  through  their  legislatures  against  the 


226       CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

measure  as  unconstitutional  and  oppressive  of  their 
interests. 

In  his  annual  message  to  the  Congress  of  1831, 
President  Jackson  announced  that  the  public  debt 
would  soon  be  entirely  paid,  and  recommended  the 
reduction  of  duties  to  the  amount  needed  for  the 
payment  of  the  ordinary  expenses  of  the  Govern 
ment.  The  recommendation  was  considered  by 
Congress,  which  passed  an  act  diminishing  the  duties 
on  articles  not  affecting  the  interests  of  the  manu 
facturers,  without  reducing  the  duties  on  manufact 
ured  goods.  This  act  was  approved  July  14,  1832, 
and  tended  greatly  to  increase  the  excitement  which 
prevailed  in  the  Southern  States,  as  it  indicated  a 
determination  to  persist  in  the  protective  policy,  not 
withstanding  the  payment  of  the  public  debt.  Re 
sistance  to  the  enforcement  of  the  act  was  openly  ad 
vocated.  The  Legislature  of  South  Carolina  con 
vened  October  22d,  and  on  October  26th  passed  an 
act  by  the  necessary  majority  vote  of  two-thirds  of 
the  members,  authorizing  a  convention  of  the  people, 
to  meet  at  Columbia,  on  the  19th  day  of  November 
following,  to  determine  the  course  to  be  pursued  by 
the  State  in  view  of  the  dangerous  condition  of  af 
fairs  which  existed.  Delegates  were  chosen,  and  the 
convention  assembled  at  the  time  and  place  appoint 
ed.  The  subject  for  the  consideration  of  which  the 
convention  was  called,  was  referred  to  a  committee, 
which,  on  the  the  24th  day  of  November,  made  a  re- 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       227 

port,  setting  forth  the  grievances  of  the  people  of 
the  State,  and  proposing  an  ordinance  for  adoption 
by  the  convention,  which  was  adopted  by  a  vote  of 
136  ayes  and  26  noes.  The  convention  also  adopt 
ed  two  addresses,  one  to  the  people  of  South  Caro 
lina  amd  the  other  to  the  people  of  the  other  States 
of  the  Union.  These  papers  and  the  report  subse 
quently  made  to  the  convention  on  'The  Force  Bill/ 
so-called,  may  be  considered  as  authoritative  state 
ments  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina  upon  the  sub 
ject  of  their  'alleged  grievances. 

Upon  the  question  of  the  primary  causes  of  the  ex 
isting  discontent,  the  report  on  the  Force  Bill,  after 
reciting  the  measures  which  had  been  adopted  by  the 
Federal  Government  tending  to  the  prostitution  of 
our  system  of  Government  to  the  arbitrary  will  of  the 
aggregate  majority,  which  if  persisted  in  would  re 
sult  in  a  consolidated  Government,  states,  'And  what 
is  it  to  the  Southern  States  to  be  subjected  to  a  con 
solidated  Government  ?  These  States  constitute  a 
minority  and  are  likely  to  do  so  forever.  They  dif 
fer  in  institutions  and  modes  of  industry  from  the 
States  of  the  majority,  and  have  different,  and  in  some 
degree,  incompatible  interests.  It  is  to  be  govern 
ed,  not  with  reference  to  their  own  interests,  but  ac 
cording  to  the  prejudices  of  their  rulers,  the  majori 
ty.  It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  protecting  sys 
tem  constitutes  but  small  part  of  our  controversy 
with  the  Federal  Government.  Unless  we  can  ob- 


228      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

tain  the  recognition  of  some  effectual  constitutional 
check  on  the  usurpation  of  power,  which  can  only  be 
derived  from  the  sovereignty  of  the  States,  and  their 
right  to  interpose  for  the  preservation  of  their  reser 
ved  powers,  we  shall  experience  oppression  more  cru 
el  and  revolting  than  this.'  * 

The  immediate  cause  of  the  discontent  is  stated 
at  length  in  the  report  first  made  to  the  convention, 
from  which  we  give  the  following  extract  :  'The 
laws  have  accordingly  been  so  framed  as  to  give  a  di 
rect  pecuniary  interest  to  a  sectional  majority,  in 
maintaining  a  grand  system  by  which  taxes  are  in 
effect  imposed  upon  the  few,  for  the  benefit  of  the 
many ; — and  imposed  too,  by  a  system  of  indirect 
taxation,  so  artfully  contrived,  as  to  escape  the  vig 
ilance  of  the  common  eye,  arid  masked  under  such 
ingenious  devices  as  to  make  it  extremely  difficult  to 
expose  their  true  character.  Thus  under  the  pre 
text  of  imposing  duties  for  the  payment  of  the  pub 
lic  debt,  and  providing  for  the  common  defence  and 
general  welfare  (powers  expressly  conferred  on  the 
Federal  Government  by  the  constitution,)  acts  are 
passed  containing  provisions  designed  exclusively 
and  avowedly  for  the  purpose  of  securing  to  the 
American  manufacturers  a  monopoly  in  our  markets, 
to  the  great  and  manifest  prejudice  of  those  who  fur- 
nish  the  agricultural  productions  which  are  exchanged 
in  foreign  markets  for  the  very  articles  which  it  is 
the  avowed  object  of  these  laws  to  exclude.  It  so 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.         229 

happens,  that  six  of  the  Southern  States,  whose  in 
dustry  is  equal  to  only  one-third  part  of  the  whole 
Union,  actually  produce  for  exportation  near  $40, 
000,000  annually,  being  about  two-thirds  of  the 
whole  domestic  exports  of  the  United  States.  A  sit 
their  interest  so  it  is  unquestionably,  their 
right,  to  carry  these  fruits  of  their  own  honest 
industry  to  the  best  market,  without  any 
molestation,  hindrance,  or  restraint,  whatsoever 
and  subject  to  no  taxes  or  other  charges,  but 
such  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  payment  of  the 
reasonable  expenses  of  the  Government.  But  how 
does  this  system  operate  upon  our  industry  ?  While 
imposts  to  the  amount  of  ten  or  twelve  per  cent.,  (if 
arranged  on  just  and  equal  principles)  must  be  ad 
mitted  to  be  fully  adequate  to  all  the  legitimate  pur 
poses  of  Government,  duties  are  actually  imposed 
(with  a  few  inconsiderable  exceptions)  upon  all  the 
woolens,  cottons,  iron  and  manufactures  of  iron,  sugar, 
and  salt,  and  almost  every  article  received  in  ex 
change  for  the  cotton,  rice,  and  tobacco  of  the  South- 
equal  on  average  to  about  fifty  per  cent,  j  whereby 
(in  addition  to  the  injurious  effects  of  this  system  in 
prohibiting  some  articles,  and  discouraging  the  in 
troduction  of  others)  a  tax  equal  to  one-half  of  the 
first  cost  is  imposed  upon  cottons,  woolens,  and  iron 
which  are  the  fruits  of  Southern  industry,  in  order 
to  secure  an  advantage  in  the  home  market,  to  their 
rivals  the  American  manufacturers  of  similar  articles 


230      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

equivalent  to  one-half  of  their  value,  thereby  stimula 
ting  the  industry  of  the  North  and  discouraging  that 
of  the  South,  by  granting  bounties  to  the  one  and 
imposing  taxes  upon  the  other.' 

The  immediate  remedies  proposed  are  set  forth  in 
the  ordinance  which  was  adopted.  It  declares  the 
Tariff  acts  of  1828  and  1832  unconstitutional,  and 
null  and  void,  and  not  binding  upon  the  State,  its 
officers  or  its  citizens ;  forbids  any  officer,  State  or 
Federal,  to  enforce  the  revenue  laws  within  the 
limits  of  the  State ;  and  further  declares,  that,  if  any 
attempts  shall  be  made  on  the  part  of  the  Federal 
Government  to  enforce  said  acts  or  to  coerce  the 
State,  the  people  thereof  would  forthwith  proceed  to 
organize  a  separate  Government. 

In  the  address  to  the  people  of  the  other  States  of 
the  Union,  the  right  of  the  State  to  nullify  is  claimed. 
The  report  asserts  'That  the  States  have  the  right  in 
the  same  sovereign  capacity  in  which  they  adopted 
the  Federal  Constitution,  to  pronounce,  in  the  last 
resort,  authoritative  judgment  on  the  usurpations  of 
of  the  Federal  Government,  and  to  adopt  such  meas 
ures  as  they  may  deem  neccessary  and  expedient  to 
arrest  the  operation  of  unconstitutional  acts  of  that 
Government  within  their  respective  limits. . .  .And 
the  obligation  of  the  oath  which  is  imposed,  under 
the  Constitution,  on  every  functionary  of  the  States, 
to  "preserve,  protect,  and  defend"  the  Federal  Con 
stitution,  as  clearly  comprehends  the  duty  of  protect- 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        231 

ing  and  defending  it  against  the  usurpations  of  the 
Federal  Government,  as  that  of  protecting  and  de 
fending  it  against  violation  in  any  other  form  or 
from  any  other  quarter .But  clear  and  un 
doubted  as  we  regard  the  right,  and  sacred  as  we 
regard  the  duty  of  the  States  to  interpose  their  sov 
ereign  power  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  their  citi 
zens  from  the  unconstitutional  and  oppressive  acts  of 
the  Federal  Government,  yet  we  are  as  clearly  of 
the  opinion  that  nothing  short  of  that  high  moral  and 
political  necessity  which  results  from  acts  of  usurpa 
tion,  subversive  of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the 
people,  should  induce amember  of  this  confederacy  to 
resort  to  this  interposition.  Such,  however,  is  the 
melancholy  and  painful  necessity  under  which  we 
have  declared  the  acts  of  Congress,  imposing  protect- 
.ing  duties,  null  and  void  within  the  limits  of  Sonth 

Carolina There  is  no  right  which  enters  more 

essentially  into  a  just  conception  of  liberty,  than  that 
of  the  free  and  unrestricted  use  of  the  productions  of 
that  industry  wherever  they  can  be  most  advan 
tageously  exchanged,  whether  in  foreign  or  domestic 
markets.  South  Carolina  produces,  almost  exclu 
sively,  agricultural  staples,  which  derive  their  princi 
pal  value  from  the  demand  for  them  in  foreign  coun 
tries.  Under  these  circumstances,  her  natural  mar 
kets  are  abroad ;  and  restrictive  duties  imposed  upon 
her  intercourse  with  those  markets,  diminish  the  ex 
changeable  value  of  her  productions  very  nearly  to 


232    CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

the  full  extent  of  those  duties.'  In  this  address  the 
following  proposition  for  adjustment  was  made: 
'But  we  are  willing  to  make  a  large  offering  to  pre 
serve  the  Union ;  and  with  a  distinct  declaration 
that  it  is  a  concession  on  our  part,  we  will  consent 
that  the  same  rate  of  duty  may  be  imposed  upon  the 
protected  articles  that  shall  be  imposed  upon  the  un 
protected,  provided  that  no  more  revenue  be  raised 
than  is  necessary  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  Gov 
ernment  for  constitutional  purposes,  and  provided 
also,  that  a  duty,  substantially  uniform,  be  im 
posed  upon  all  foreign  imports.' 

On  the  10th  day  of  December  following,  President 
Jackson  issued  a  proclamation  asserting  his  right 
and  duty  as  President,  to  execute  and  enforce  all 
laws  of  the  United  States  within  the  State  of  Soutli 
Carolina,  and  declaring  that  this  duty  would  be  faith 
fully  performed.  In  it  he  admitted  that  the  people 
of  that  State  had  'indeed  felt  the  unequal  operation 
of  laws'  which  might  'have  been  unwisely  but  not  un 
constitutionally  passed,'  but  that  'inequality  must 
necessarily  be  removed'  j  and  made  to  them  a  patri 
otic  appeal  to  refrain  from  the  commission  of  acts 
which  might  require  the  employment  of  force  on  the 
part  of  the  Federal  Executive. 

The  apprehension  of  open  collision  between  the 
Federal  authorities  and  the  people  of  South  Caroli 
na  caused  great  excitement  throughout  the  country. 
The  Legislature  of  Virginia,  with  a  view  to  avert  the 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        233 

danger,  on  the  26th  day  of  January,  1833,  adopted 
resolutions  requesting  the  authorities  of  the  State  of 
South  Carolina  to  rescind  the  ordinance  of  nullifica 
tion,  or  at  least  to  suspend  its  operation  until  the 
close  of  the  first  session  of  the  next  Congress ;  and 
requesting  of  Congress  that  it  would  modify  the 
Tariff  acts  to  effect  a  gradual  but  speedy  reduction 
of  the  revenues  of  the  General  Government  to  the 
standard  of  the  necessary  and  proper  expenditures 
for  the  support  thereof.  The  resolutions  also  de 
clared  that  the  people  of  Virginia  expected,  and  had 
a  right  to  expect,  that  the  General  Government  and 
the  Government  of  South  Carolina  would  carefully 
abstain  from  any  and  all  acts  calculated  to  disturb 
the  tranquility  of  the  country,  or  endanger  the  ex 
istence  of  the  Union. 

The  subject  had  been  considered  in  Congress  be 
fore  the  date  of  the  adoption  of  these  resolutions, 
and  a  Bill  had  been  proposed,  known  as  the  Com 
promise  Bill,  providing  for  a  gradual  reduction  of 
duties.  Mr.  Clay,  the  acknowleged  leader  of  the  par 
ty  in  favor  of  the  American  System,  advocated  its 
passage  in  a  statesmanlike  and  patriotic  speech,  from 
which  we  make  the  following  extract :  ^It  has  been 
intimated  by  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  that,  if 
we  legislate  at  this  session  on  the  tariff,  we  would 
seem  to  legislate  under  the  influence  of  a  panic.  I 
believe,  Mr.  President,  I  am  not  more  sensible  to 
danger  of  any  kind  than  my  fellow-men  are  general- 


234      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

ly.     It  perhaps  requires  as   much  moral  courage  to 
legislate   under   the  imputation   of  a  panic,  as  to 
refrain  from  it   lest  such  an  imputation  should  be 
made.     But  he  who  regards  the  present  question  as 
being  limited  to  South  Carolina  alone,  takes  a  view 
of  it  too  much  contracted.     There  is  a    sympathy  of 
feeling  and  interest   throughout  the    whole   South. 
Other  Southern  States  may  differ  from  that  as  to  the 
remedy  to  be  used,   but  all   agree,  (great  as,  in  my 
humble  judgment,  is  their  error,)    in   the  substantial 
justice  of  the  cause.     Can  there  be  a  doubt  that  those 
who  think  in  common  will  sooner  or  later  act  in  con 
cert  ?     Events  are  on  the  wing,  and  hastening  this 
co-operation.     Since  the  commencement  of  this  ses 
sion,  the  most    powerful   Southern   member  of  the 
Union  has  taken  a  measure  which  cannot  fail  to  lead 
to   the    most    important    consequences.     She    has 
deputed  one  of  her  most  distinguished  citizens  to  re 
quest  a  suspension  of  measures   of  resistance.     No 
attentive  observer  can    doubt  that  the   suspension 
will  be  made.     Well,  sir,  suppose  it  takes  place,  and 
Congress  should  fail  at  the  next  session  to  afford  the 
redress  which  will  be  solicited,   what   course   would 
every  principle  of  honor,  and  every  consideration  of 
the  interests  of  Virginia,  as   she   understands   them 
exact  from   her  ?     Would   she   not   make  common, 
cause  with  South  Carolina,   and   if  she    did,   would 
not  the  entire  South  eventually  become   parties   to 
the  contest  ?     The  rest  of  the  Union  might  put  down 


CAUSES  OF  SECIIONAL  DISCONTENT.       235 

the  South,  and  reduce  it  to  submission ;  but  to  say 
nothing  of  the  uncertainly  and  hazards  of  all  war, 
is  that  a  desirable  state  of  things  ?  Ought  it  not  to 
be  avoided  if  it  can  be  honorably  prevented  ?  I  ani 
not  of  those  who  think  that  we  must  rely  exclusive 
ly  upon  moral  power,  and  never  resort  to  physical 
force.  I  know  too  well  the  frailties  and  follies  of 
man,  in  his  collective  as  well  as  individual  character, 
to  reject  in  all  possible  cases,  the  employment  of 
force ;  but  I  do  think  that  when  resorted  to,  especial 
ly  among  the  members  of  a  confederacy,  it  should 
manifestly  appear  to  be  the  only  remaining  appeal.' 

The  Compromise  Bill  was  passed  March  2d,  and 
on  March  15th  the  Convention  of  South  Carolina,  by 
a  nearly  unanimous  vote,  rescinded  its  ordinance  of 
nullification. 

The  relief  of  the  discontent  in  South  Carolina  and 
the  other  staple  growing  States,  through  the  adop 
tion  of  a  magnanimous  and  conciliatory  policy  on  the 
part  of  the  Federal  Government,  gave  much  ground 
for  the  hope  that  even  if  the  guaranties  of  the  Con 
stitution  should  prove  inadequate  for  the  security  of 
minority  interests,  yet  that  the  wisdom,  patriotism, 
and  spirit  of  devotion  to  the  Union  in  the  American 
people,  would  in  the  future  prevent  a  reference  to 
the  last  resort  on  issues  involving  material -interests 
alone.  But  other  and  powerful  causes  were  already 
actively  at  work,  and  their  influence  had  been  felt 


236       CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

before  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the  Compromise 
measures  on  the  tariff. 

The  American  system  of  negro  slavery  which  pre 
vailed  in  all  the  States  at  the  time  of  the  adoption 
of  the  Federal  Constitution,  having  proved  unprofit 
able  under  the  climate  of  the  Eastern  and  North- 
Western  States  of  the  Union,  had  been  gradually 
discontinued  in  those  States ;  and  at  the  time  of  the 
disaffection  in  South  Carolina,  had  been  abolished  by 
law  in  all  excepting  the  Southern  States. 

Soon  after  the  adoption  of  the  Constitution,  move 
ments  were  inaugurated  by  citizens  of  States  in 
which  the  system  had  been  discontinued,  for  the  pur 
pose  of  procuring  legislation  by  the  Federal  Congress 
on  the  subject  of  slavery.  These  movements  were  sup 
ported  by  only  an  inconsiderable  number  of  individ 
uals,  and  for  many  years  attracted  but  little  public 
attention.  But  the  application  of  Missouri  for  ad 
mission  into  the  Union  in  1818,  opened  a  wide  field 
for  agitation  upon  the  subject.  A  bill  was  reported 
in  the  House  of  Representatives,  by  the  Committee 
to  which  the  subject  was  referred,  for  the  admission 
of  Missouri  as  a  State  into  the  Union  upon  an  equal 
footing  with  the  original  States.  An  amendment 
was  proposed  to  the  bill  in  the  House  prohibiting 
slavery  in  the  State.  This  was  agreed  to  by  the 
House,  but  nonconcurred  in  by  the  Senate.  Neither 
branch  would  recede,  so  the  bill  was  lost. 

The  application  was  renewed  at  the  next  session. 


•  • 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.    237 

After  a  protracted  discussion  in  the  House  of  Repre 
sentatives,  which  called  forth  much  sectional  feeling, 
a  motion  was  made  to  amend  the  bill  reported  for 
its  admission,  by  adding  to  it  a  new  section  prohibit  - 
ing  slavery  forever  in  all  territories  ceded  to  the 
United  States  by  France,  under  the  name  of  Louisi 
ana,  not  included  within  the  limits  of  Missouri,  north 
of  a  proposed  conventional  geographical  line. 

The  adoption  of  this  amendment  was  strenuously 
opposed  by  the  Southern  members.  They  contended 
that  Congress  had  no  constitutional  power  to  de 
prive  settlers  of  the  the  common  territory  of  the 
Union  of  the  privilege  of  taking  with  them  and  em 
ploying  their  slaves,  which  they  owned  as  property 
.by  the  laws  of  the  States  from  which  they  emigrated ; 
and  further,  that  the  passage  of  the  act  would  estab 
lish  a  most  dangerous  precedent,  as  it  would  initi 
ate  a  policy  of  arbitrary  discriminations  by  the  Fed 
eral  Government  upon  the  subject  of  slavery  in  the 
territoriesT  But  the  amendment  was  adopted,  and 
the  bill  as  amended,  passed  both  Houses  and  was 
approved  by  the  President. 

Thomas  Jefferson,  then  in  the  retirement  of  pri 
vate  life,  had  watched  the  progress  of  the  discussion 
with  intense  interest,  and  immediately  upon  the  pas 
sage  of  the  act  wrote  to  a  friend :  'But  this  momen 
tous  question  (the  Missouri  one)  like  a  fire-bell  in 
the  night,  awakened  me  and  filled  me  with  terror- 
I  considered  it  at  once  as  the  8eath-knell  of  the 


238         CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

Union.  It  is  hushed  indeed  for  the  moment; 
but*  this  is  a  reprieve  only,  not  a  final  sentence.  A 
geographical  line,  coinciding  with  a  marked  principle, 
moral  and  political,  once  conceived  and  held  up  to  the 
angry  passions  ot  men,  will  never  be  obliterated  j  and 
every  new  agitation  will  mark  it  deeper  and  deeper.' 
This  great  and  sagacious  statesman  was  not  mistak 
en.  Although  hushed  for  the  time,  the  agitation  upon 
the  subject  was  renewed  a  few  years  later  with  in 
creased  warmth. 

In  1830,  societies  were  formed  in  the  Northern 
States  for  the  avowed  object  of  abolishing  slavery  in 
the  States,  or  dissolving  the  Union.  Contributions 
were  made,  zealous  agents  employed,  and  the 
Southern  mails  flooded  with  documents  of  a  most  in 
cendiary  character,  which  excited  a  feeling  of  indig 
nation  mingled  with  alarm  throughout  the  South. 
These  societies  rapidly  increased  and  the  numbers  of 
their  members  were  augmented.  Public  attention  in 
the  Southern  States  was  called  to  their  movements. 
The  people  of  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  held  a 
large  public  meeting,  May,  11,  1835,  for  the  purpose 
of  preventing  'seditious  pamphlets  from  being  sent 
through  the  mail.'  Resolutions  were  adopted  and  a 
large  number  of  copies  of  the  proceedings  of  the 
meeting  were  published  and  sent  to  different  parts  of 
the  country. 

Public  meetings  in  reference  to  it  were  held  in  Bos- 
tonand  other  cities  of  the  North.  The  meeting  in  l>os- 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       239 

ton  wag  held,  May  21st,  in  Faneuil  Hall.  It  was 
a  very  large  and  respectable  meeting,  and  was  ad 
dressed  by  Harrison  Gray  Otis,  Richard  Fletcher, 
Peleg  Sprague,  and  others.  Judge  Sprague  in  his 
speech  upon  the  occasion,  referred  to  the  dangerous 
character  of  the  movement  in  the  following  prophetic 
language :  'If  these  abolitionists  shall  go  on,  if  their 
associations  shall  continue  to  increase,  if  their  doc 
trines  shall  spread  and  their  measures  be  adopted 
until  they  become  the  general  sentiment  and  action 
of  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  North,  and  this 
shall  be  known,  as  known  it  will  be,  at  the  South, 
the  fate  of  our  government  is  sealed — the  day  that 
sees  such  a  consummation,  will  look  only  upon  the 
broken  fragments  of  our  Union.' 

The  meeting  adopted  a  series  of  resolutions  in 
which  they  declared,  'We  solemnly  protest  against 
the  principles  and  conduct  of  the  few,  who  in  their 
zeal  would  scatter  fire-brands,  arrows,  and  death.' 

But  the  spirit  of  abolitionism  was  not  to  be  thus 
silenced.  New  conflicts  of  material  interests  were 
continually  springing  up  between  the  sections ;  and 
political  leaders  soon  learned  the  power  cf  this  new 
agency  in  uniting  and  intensifying  the  feelings  of 
the  people  in  support  of  their  political  measures. 
For  a  few  years  there  was  no  open  co-operation  be 
tween  the  abolitionists  and  politicians,  as  no  impor 
tant  issues  could  be  framed  on  the  subject  of  slavery 
which  could  be  defended  on  constitutional  grounds. 


240       CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

But  the  proposition  to  admit  Texas  as  a  State  into 
the  Union  in  1 844,  and  subsequently  the  establish 
ment  of  Governments  for  the  territories  acquired  in 
the  war  with  Mexico,  afforded  an  opportunity  which 
was  not  neglected,  for  the  organization  of  a  political 
party  upon  important  anti-slavery  issues  which  were 
claimed  to  be  within  the  purview  of  the  Constitution. 

This  party  asserted  that  Congress  has  a  right  to 
prohibit  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  from  emi 
grating  with  their  slaves  into  any  portion  of  the  pub 
lic  domain,  and  claimed  that  by  the  act  of  1820  the 
country  was  committed  to  the  policy  of  slavery-ex 
clusion  in  the  territories.  The  immediate,  avowed 
object  of  this  party  was  to  prevent,  through  legisla 
tion  of  the  Federal  Government,  the  admission  of 
any  new  State  into  the  Union  with  a  Constitution 
legalizing  slavery,  and  consequently  to  increase  the 
number  and  preponderance  of  the  free  States  in  the 
Union. 

The  professed  objects  were  purely  moral  ones, 
yet  the  dividing  line  between  the  slave  and  free 
States  coinciding  geographically  with  the  line  of  de 
marcation  between  the  conflicting  interests  of  the 
country,  a  co-operation  of  material  and  moral  forces 
was  rendered  inevitable  on  all  great  questions  in 
volving  the  material  interests  of  the  country. 

The  result  which  neither  the  conflict  of  interests 
nor  the  power  of  abolitionism  had  been  able  alone  to" 
accomplish,  was  destined  to  be  consummated  through 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       241 

the  vigorous  co-operation  of  both.  With  the  power 
to  subordinate  the  interests  of  the  weaker  section  to 
those  of  the  stronger,  within  the  reach  of  the  majority 
in  the  stronger  section,  and  with  great  moral  issues 
on  which  to  inflame  the  people  and  vindicate  their 
acts,  a  way  was  opened  to  political  demagogues  at 
the  North  for  the  establishment  of  a  great  sectional 
party  with  power  to  control  the  administration  of 
the  Federal  Government. 

The  organization  of  this  new  party  was  the  signal 
for  fierce  and  desperate  political  conflicts.  Based 
upon  the  great  predominant  interests  of  the  majority 
section  of  the  country,  appealing  to  and  reviving  all 
the  sectional  prejudices  of  the  past,  and  animated 
by  the  intolerant  spirit  of  a  bitter  fanaticism,  the 
political  anti-slavery  party  of  the  North  rapidly  in 
creased  in  numbers  and  power.  It  soon  obtained 
the  supremacy  in  the  Governments  of  many  of  the 
free  States,  and  in  each  instance  of  success  pursued 
a  most  relentless  and  prescriptive  course  against 
the  local  minorities  which  attempted  to  arrest  its 
progress.  The  administration  of  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  was  looked  upon  as  a  barrier  in  the  way  of 
its  success,  and  the  authorities  of  the  States  in  which 
it  had  control  were  invoked  against  the  acts  of  the 
Federal  Congress. 

The  legislature  of  Massachusetts,  as  early  as  the 
period  of  the  admission  of  Texas,  'Resolved,  That 
Massachusetts  hereby  refuses  to  acknowledge  the 


242      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

act  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  author 
izing  the  admission  of  Texas,  as  a  legal  act  in  any  way 
binding  her  from  using  her  uttermost  exertions,  in 
co-operation  with  her  sister  States,  by  every  lawful 
and  constitutional  measure,  to  annul  its  condition 
and  defeat  its  accomplishment.'  A  few  years  later 
the  Legislature  of  the  same  State  passed  an  act 
known  as  the  personal  liberty  bill,  intended  to  nullify 
within  the  Commonwealth  the  provisions  of  the  act 
of  Congress  passed  for  the  rendition  of  fugitives 
from  service  and  labor ;  and  as  late  as  in  1856, 
'Resolved,  That  the  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  is 
imperatively  called  upon  by  the  plainest  dictates  of 
duty,  from  a  decent  regard  to  the  rights  of  her  citi 
zens  and  a  respect  for  her  character  as  a  sovereign 
State  to  demand  of  the  National  Congress  a  prompt 
and  strict  investigation  into  the  recent  assault  upon 
Senator  Sumner,  and  the  expulsion,  by  the  House,  of 
Mr.  Brooks  of  South  Carolina,  and  every  other  mem 
ber  concerned  with  him  in  said  assault.' 

Massachusetts  not  only  claimed  authority  as  a 
sovereign  State,  but  the  right  to  interpose  that  au 
thority  against  acts  of  the  Federal  Government, 
which  her  Legislature  and  not  the  Judicial  Tribunals 
of  the  country  might  deem  to  be  unconstitutional. 
The  Legislatures  of  other  States  of  the  North  asser 
ted  the  same  authority  and  passed  personal  liberty 
bills  similar  to  that  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of 
Massachusetts. 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        243 

But  the  great  immediate  object  of  the  party  was 
to  increase  the  relative  power  of  the  North,  and 
through  a  union  of  its  people  to  obtain  control  of  all 
the  Legislative  Departments  of  the  Federal  Govern 
ment.  The  numerical  superiority  of  the  people  of 
the  North  over  the  people  of  the  South  was  so  large 
as  to  insure  the  election  by  it  of  the  President  and  a 
majority  ot  the  United  States  House  of  Representa 
tives,  upon  any  considerable  unanimity  of  political 
action.  The  Senate,  representing  the  States,  was 
more  equally  divided ;  and  although  in  this  branch  of 
the  Government,  during  the  entire  period  of  the 
struggle,  the  North  had  a  majority,  yet  it  was  so 
small  as  not  to  be  relied  upon  except  on  a  thorough 
union  of  the  people  of  all  the  States.  Thus  the 
struggle  for  slavery-exclusion  in  the  territories  be 
came  one  of  the  deepest  significance.  Each  party 
contributed  to  the  contest  its  most  strenuous  efforts. 
For  years  this  struggle  for  power  in  the  Senate  ab 
sorbed  every  other  issue.  The  North,  having  the 
control  of  two  branches  of  the  Federal  Government 
within,  its  power,  strove  with  the  fiercest  energy  to 
secure  to  itself  the  same  predominance  in  the  other 
branch,  that  it  might  control  the  legislation  of  the 
Federal  Government.  This  accomplished,  the  Su 
preme  Court  of  the  United  States  would  remain  the 
only  obstacle  to  the  complete  perversion  of  all  pow 
ers  of  the  Federal  Government  to  the  arbitrary  will 
of  a  sectional  majority.  Systematic  efforts  were 


244      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

made  to  destroy  its  influence.  Its  decisions  were 
treated  with  contempt,  and  the  tribunal  itself  traduced 
in  political  speeches  and  platforms.  The  people  of 
the  South,  on  the  other  hand,  were  united  with  the 
intensest  zeal  to  retain  their  relative  strength  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States.  They  felt  that  their 
negative  power  in  this  branch  of  the  Government 
constituted  the  only  barrier  against  oppression  that 
remained ;  as  under  a  sectional  administration  of  the 
Government,  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  would 
be  evaded  or  disregarded,  and  that  eventually,  by 
new  appointments,  the  character  of  the  tribunal  would 
be  radically  changed.  The  prejudices  as  well  as  the 
interests  of  the  respective  sections  were  enlisted  in 
the  struggle. 

At  the  North,  the  grossest  misrepresentations 
were  made  by  the  political  leaders  to  arouse  and  in 
flame  the  passions  and  jealousies  of  the  masses.  They 
declaimed  to  the  people  with  effect,  that  in  this  con 
test  for  power,  which  it  really  was,  the  people  of  the 
South  were  striving  for  supremacy  in  the  Federal 
Government ;  although  the  relative  numbers  of  the 
populations  of  the  respective  sections  were  such  as 
to  render  it  impossible  for  the  South  in  a  sectional 
conflict,  to  control  the  election  of  President  or  of  a 
majority  of  thfe  House  of  Representatives,  both  of 
which  would  be  necessary  for  such  a  consummation ; 
and  they  attempted  to  justify  their  own  sectional 
policies  under  most  specious  and  fallacious  pretexts. 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       245 

A  thorough  amalgamation  of  political  and  moral 
issues  was  accomplished.  The  party  of  politics  and 
conscience  rapidly  increased.  It  received  a  check 
from  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  but  rallied 
to  secure  the  supremacy  of  the  North  in  the  territory 
of  Kansas,  in  anticipation  of  the  application  to  it  of 
the  principles  of  the  Legislation  of  1 850.  But  the 
Kansas  issues  proved  insufficient.  In  1858,  a  bold 
advance  step  was  taken.  The  doctrine  of  the  irre 
pressible  conflict,  substantially  the  doctrine  of  the 
early  abolitionists,  'scattering  fire-brands,  arrows,  and 
death,'  was  proclaimed  by  Messrs.  Seward  and  Lin 
coln,  and  adopted  by  the  party  of  which  they  were 
the  acknowleged  leaders.  From  this  time  Constitu 
tional  limitations  and  guarantees  were  disregarded, 
and  an  open  appeal  was  made  for  a  union  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  North  against  the  people  and  institutions 
of  the  South.  The  appeal  was  successfully  made, 
and  in  1860  a  President  was  elected  on  a  platform 
based  upon  absolute  slavery- exclusion  in  the  territo 
ries,  and  a  practical  nullification  of  the  decisions  of 
the  Federal  Courts. 

Deep-felt  alarm  pervaded  the  people  of  the  South 
ern  States.  In  December  following  the  election,  a 
convention  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina  was  held, 
and  passed  an  ordinance  of  secession  and  adopted  a 
declaration  of  the  causes  which  it  claimed  justified 
the  measure.  We  give  the  following  extract  from 
it:— 


246      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

1  We  affirm  that  those  ends  for  which  this  Govern 
ment  was  instituted  have  been  defeated,  and  the  Gov 
ernment  itself  has  been  made  destructive  of  them  by 
the  action  of  the  non-slaveholding  States.  Those 
States  have  assumed  the  right  of  deciding  upon  the 
propriety  of  our  domestic  institutions,  and  have 
denied  the  rights  of  property  established  in  fifteen 
of  the  States,  and  recognized  by  the  Constitution ; 
they  have  denounced  as  sinful  the  institution  of 
slavery ;  they  have  permitted  the  open  establishment 
among  them  of  societies  whose  avowed  object  is  to  dis 
turb  the  peace  and  to  endanger  the  property  of  the 
citizens  of  other  States.  They  have  encouraged  and 
assisted  thousands  of  our  slaves  to  leave  their  homes, 
and  those  who  remain  have  been  incited  by  emissa 
ries,  books  and  pictures,  to  servile  insurrection. 

'For  seventy-five  years  this  agitation  has  been 
steadily  increasing,  until  it  has  now  secured  to  its 
aid  the  power  of  the  common  Government.  Observ 
ing  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  a  sectional  party 
has  found  within  that  article  establishing  the  Exec 
utive  Department,  the  means  of  subverting  the  Con 
stitution  itself.  A  geographical  line  has  been  drawn 
across  the  Union,  and  all  the  States  north  of  that 
line  have  united  in  the  election  of  a  man  to  the  high 
office  of  President  of  the  United  States,  whose  opin 
ions  and  purposes  are  hostile  to  slavery.  He  is  to 
be  entrusted  with  the  administration  of  the  common 
Government,  because  he  has  declared  that  that  "Gov- 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.        247 

ernment  cannot  endure  permanently  half-slave,  half- 
free/'  and  that  the  public  mind  must  rest  in  the  be 
lief  that  slavery  is  in  the  course  of  ultimate  extinc 
tion. 

'This  sectional  combination  for  the  subversion  of 
the  Constitution  has  been  aided  in  some  of  the  States 
by  elevating  to  citizenship  persons,  who,  by  the  su 
preme  law  of  the  land,  are  incapable  of  becoming 
citizens,  and  their  votes  have  been  used  to  inaugu 
rate  a  new  policy  hostile  to  the  South,  and  destruc 
tive  of  its  peace  and  safety. 

'On  the  4th  of  March  next  this  party  will  take 
possession  of  the  Government.  It  has  announced 
that  the  South  shall  be  excluded  from  the  common 
territory ;  that  the  judicial  tribunals  shall  be  made 
sectional,  and  that  a  war  must  be  waged  against 
slavery  until  it  shall  cease  throughout  the  United 
States. 

'The  guarantees  of  the  Constitution  will  then  no 
longer  exist;  the  equal  rights  of  the  States  will  be 
lost.  The  slaveholding  States  will  no  longer  have 
the  power  of  self-government  or  self-production,  and 
the  Federal  Government  will  have  become  their 
enemies. 

'Sectional  interest  and  animosity  will  deepen  the 
irritation,  and  all  hope  of  remedy  is  rendered  vain 
by  the  fact  that  public  opinion  at  the  North  has  in 
vested  a  great  political  error  with  the  sanctions  of  a 
more  erroneous  religious  belief. 


248    CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

'We,  therefore,  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  by 
our  delegation  in  Convention  assembled,  appealing  to 
the  Supreme  Judge. of  the  world  for  the  rectitude  of 
our  intentions,  have  solemnly  declared  that  the 
Union  heretofore  existing  between  this  State  and  the 
other  States  of  North  America  is  dissolved,  and  that 
the  State  of  South  Carolina  has  resumed  her  posi 
tion  among  the  nations  of  the  world,  as  a  free,  sov- 
erign,  and  independent  State,  with  full  power  to 
levy  war,  conclude  peace,  contract  alliances,  establish 
commerce,  and  to  do  all  other  acts  and  things  which 
independent  States  may  of  right  do. 

'And,  for  the  support  of  this  declaration,  with  firm 
reliance  on  the  protection  of  Divine  Providence,  we 
mutually  pledge  to  each  other  our  lives,  our  fortunes 
and  our  sacred  honor.' 

The  States  of  Georgia,  Mississippi,  Florida,  Louisi 
ana  and  Alabama,  in  January  followed  the  example 
of  South  Carolina.  On  February  4th,  a  convention 
of  deputies  of  the  seceded  States  met  at  Montgom 
ery,  Alabama,  to  organize  a  Southern  Confederacy, 
and  on  February  8th,  adopted  a  Constitution  for  a 
Provisional  Government.  The  Congress  of  the 
United  States  was  at  the  time  in  session.  Senator 
Crittenden,  of  Kentucky,  the  last  of  the  great  states 
men  of  his  generation,  proposed  in  the  Senate,  De-r 
cember  19th,  a  series  of  resolutions  for  adoption, 
with  a  view  to  relieve  the  apprehensions  of  the  peo 
ple  of  the  South,  and  allay  the  existing  discontent. 


CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT.       249 

Intense  excitement  prevailed  throughout  the  coun 
try.  It  was  evident  that  unless  Congress  should 
take  some  decided  action  to  relieve  the  discontent, 
seperation  or  war  was  inevitable.  It  was  generally 
believed  that  nothing  short  .of  the  adoption  of  the 
resolutions  of  Mr.  Crittenden  could  effect  the  desired 
result.  The  resolutions  were  temperate.  They 
were  not  intended  to  extend  the  rights  of  the  people 
of  either  section  under  the  Constitution ;  but  to  dis 
pose  of  disputed  questions  by  compromise,  to  reaf 
firm  plain  constitutional  rights  which  had  been 
threatened,  and  to  afford  to  them  additional  protec 
tion.  They  were  in  accordance  with  the  genius  of 
our  institutions,  and  were  such  as  could  have  been 
adopted  consistently  with  the  honor  of  the  country. 
The  Southern  members  of  Congress,  including  Mr. 
Jefferson  Davis  and  Mr.  Toombs,  declared  their  wil 
lingness  to  accept  of  the  resolutions  as  a  final  settle 
ment  of  the  difficulties,  if  adopted  with  the  concur 
rence  of  the  representatives  of  the  dominant  party  j 
and  expressed  their  opinion,  that  if  thus  adopted,  the 
excitement  at  the  South  could  be  allayed. 

The  Legislative  assemblies  of  Kentucky  and  Vir 
ginia  adopted  the  resolutions.  Conservative  citi 
zens  in  all  parts  of  the  country  joined  in  earnest 
memorials  to  Congress,  urging  their  adoption  by 
that  body.  Mr.  Pugh,  Senator  from  Ohio,  declared 
in  his  place  in  the  Senate,  March  3,  1861,  that  the 
resolutions  'had  been  petitioned  for  by  a  larger  num- 


250      CAUSES  OF  SECTIONAL  DISCONTENT. 

ber  of  electors  of  the  United  States  than  any  propo 
sition  that  was  ever  before  Congress.'  But  the  reso 
lutions  met  the  united  opposition  of  the  representa 
tives  of  the  Republican  party  in  Congress.  They 
were  not  adopted.  The  -excitement  at  the  South  in 
creased.  Other  States  passed  secession  ordinances. 
A  war  of  sections  followed.  The  North  prevailed  in 
the  conflict  of  arms.  The  great  result  upon  the  inter 
ests  of  the  country,  and  the  Union  of  the  States  as 
organized  by  the  Constitution;  is  to  be  determined 
in  the  uncertain  future* 


CLOSING  ARGUMENT  FOR  PLAINTIFF, 

IN   CASE   OF 

GEO.  W.  STONE  VS.  WM.  SEGUR  ET  ALS. 

in  the  Supreme  Court,  at  Salem,  Mass.,  November  Term, 

1865.     Justice  Gray,  presiding. 


I  have  listened  with  attention  to  the  eloquent  re 
marks  of  the  counsel  who  has  closed  in  behalf  of  the 
defendants,  and  am  happy  that  I  am  able  to  agree 
with  him  on  many  of  the  legal  propositions  he  has 
enunciated ;  but  I  regretted  to  hear  from  his  lips,  as 
I  know  you  gentleman  of  the  jury  did,  expressions  of 
opinion  that  there  is  a  spirit  higher,  nobler,  and 
rather  to  be  emulated,  than  the  spirit  *of  what  he  was 
pleased  to  style  the  cold  law ;  and,  to  repeat  the  lan 
guage  of  the  counsel,  that  there  is  nothing  to  be  ad 
mired  in  the  spirit  which  a  rigid  adherence  to  rules 
calls  forth.  I  was  pained  gentlemen,  to  hear  such 
language  from  one  sworn  to  fidelity  to  the  law, 
uttered  in  the  very  ,temple  of  justice  itself,  and  in 
the  presence  of  so  many  of  his  fellow  citizens. 
But,  perhaps,  something  should  be  pardoned 
to  counsel  placed  in  the  embarrassing  position 
of  the  counsel  for  the  defendants,  called  upon  to  de- 


252      ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE. 

fend  plain  and  confessed  violators  of  the  law,  and  I 
trust  that  many  of  the  expressions  to  which  we  have 
been  obliged  to  listen  were  uttered  without  due 
consideration,  under  the*  pressure  and  excitement  of 
the  occasion. 

The  counsel  for  the  defendants  has  attempted  cov 
ertly,  yet  unmistakably,  in  his  eulogistic  language  up 
on  the  spirit  of  license,  to  justify  the  outrages  com. 
mitted  by  his  clients.  In  no  part  of  his  argument  did 
he  dispute  the  truth  of  the  charges  preferred  against 
the  defendants,  or  the  illegality  of  their  acts,  and  yet 
he  found  little  if  anything,  to  condemn,  in  all  that 
was  done.  It  will,  I  trust,  require  no  argument  from 
me  to  convince  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  that  the 
doctrine  he  addressed  to  you  is  entirely  subversive 
of  all  law,  and  destructive  of  the  peace  and  even  the 
existence  of  civilized  society.  No  one  can  be  safe, 
gentlemen,  if  irresponsible  men  may  at  their  pleasure 
take  the  law  into  their  own  hands,  and  order  can 
never  be  preserved  in  communities  where  such  a 
practice  is  permitted. 

I  need  only  to  refer  to  the  injustice  and  cruelty 
which  mark  every  such  violation  of  the  law.  Mobs 
not  only  usurp  the  province  of  judges  and  juries,  but 
that  of  the  law  making  power  itself,  and  set  at  de 
fiance  all  the  salutary  safeguards  of  innocence  which 
have  been  established  and  confirmed  by  the  wisdom 
of  ages.  Upon  the  strength  of  rumors  circulated 
against  an  individual,  an  impromptu  crowd,  wild 


ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE.          253 

with  excitement,  determine  to  inflict  summary 
punishment  on  the  assumed  offender.  There  is  no 
form  of  trial — instead  of  the  calm  intellect  and  dis 
passionate  judgment  which  alone  should  pass  upon 
the  guilt  or  innocence  of  any  human  being,  is  the 
tumult  and  madness  of  passion,  strengthened  and  in 
tensified  by  the  presence  and  contact  of  numbers. 
In  the  place  of  a  trial  with  all  the  presumptions 
and  securities  which  the  wisdom  of  the  law  has  estab 
lished,  and  at  which  the  accused  is  confronted  by  his 
accusers  face  to  face,  is  a  sudden  and  summary  judg 
ment,  not  on  evidence,  but  on  wild  report,  and  all 
this  in  the  absence  of  the  accused.  The  judgment  is 
pronounced  before  the  victim  is  aware  even  of  the 
charge,  and  the  first  intimation  he  has  is  the  presence 
of  the  mob  to  carry  into  execution  the  sentence 
they  have  passed:  There  have  been  not  infrequent 
instances  in  newJy  settled  portions  of  the  country 
of  executions  by  an  infuriate  populace,  of  criminals 
seized  from  the  hand  of  the  officers,  whose  offences 
had  been  determined  under  the  law,  who  had  been 
legally  tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced.  In  every 
such  instance  the  cruelty  of  the  actors  has  been  re 
volting  to  humanity,  and  inflicted  an  indelible  stain 
upon  the  community  in  which  the  outrage  was  com 
mitted.  How  much  more  revolting  the  spectacle,  and 
terrible  the  catastrophe,  when  a  band  of  infuriated 
men  have  not  only  taken  the  execution  of  a  sentence 
out  of  the  hands  of  the  constituted  authorities,  but 


254  ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE. 

have  prefaced  the  act  by  a  summary,  exparte,  and  ex 
tra  judicial  trial  and  judgment. 

The  facts  in  the  present  case  afford  a  marked 
illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  the  counsel  for  the 
defendants,  not  only  in  the  results  to  the  individual, 
but  to  the  community.  A  rumor  was  started  against 
the  plaintiff— men  congregated ;  without  even  an  in- 
quiry  into  the  truth  of  the  rumor  they  rushed  to 
the  building  on  which  the  plaintiff  was  at  work ;  the 
first  salutation  was  a  demand  in  loud  tones  that  he 
should  come  down  and  deliver  himself  up  to  the 
crowd.  He  refused  to  comply  with  it,  when  one  of 
the  leaders  discharged  at  him  a  revolver  loaded  with 
powder  and  ball,  and  was  only  prevented  from  re 
peating  the  act  by  the  interference  of  his  associates. 
Stones  and  other  missiles  were  then  thrown.  The 
plaintiff,  alarmed,  sought  refuge  within  the  building. 
The  doors  to  the  lower  floor  which  were  fastened 
were  forced  open,  and  the  crowd  rushed  to  the 
room  on  the  second  floor  into  which  the  plaintiff  had 
retreated.  He  was  immediately  seized,  and 
dragged  with  violence  down  the  stairs,  kicked  by 
his  assailants,  and  then  placed  in  the  centre  of  the 
crowd  and  led  to  an  appointed  rendezvous,  and  on 
the  way  was  struck  a  dastardly  blow  in  the  face. 
When  he  arrived  at  the  place  of  destination, 
a  line  was  formed  and  a  vote  taken,  not  upon  the 
question  of  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  plaintiff,  but 
solely  upon  the  mode  of  punishment.  It  was  pro- 


ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE.          255 

posed  that  he  be  tarred  and  feathered — the  vote  was 
immediately  taken  and  resulted  in  a  unanimous  affirm 
ative.  After  this,  and  you  will  judge,  gentlemen, 
whether  it  was  not  the  first  opportunity  he  had  to 
open  his  lips,  upon  the  claim  of  a  bystander  that  he 
ought  to  be  heard,  a  vote  was  formerly  taken,  in  the 
words  of  Brackett,  one  of  the  defendants,  to  allow 
him  to  speak.  No  accusation  was  preferred  against 
him.  He  could  only  conjecture  his  assumed  offence 
from  the  remarks  of  the  mob  on  the  way.  He  was 
asked  only  what  he  had  to  say.  He  replied  that  he 
had  not  made  the  remarks  he  understood  were  at 
tributed  to  him,  and  reiterated,  as  he  said  upon  the 
stand,  the  denial  that  he  had  said  anything  wrong  or 
offensive.  But  his  words  reached  only  the  seething 
passions  of  the  mob.  He  was  instantly  seized,  his 
hat  was  pulled  from  his  head,  his  frock  and  shirt  torn 
from  his  person,  and  the  tar  and  feathers,  which  had 
been  previously  procured,  were  applied  to  his  head 
and  body,  by  the  crowd,  amid  shouts  of  fiendish  joy. 
He  was  then  marched  to  the  Town  Hall,  in  which  the 
teachers  of  the  county  were  assembled  at  their 
annual  gathering.  Their  approach  was  heralded  by 
Rev.  Mr.  Clark,  a  clergyman  of  the  village,  who  was 
presiding  over  the  convention,  and,  as  he  stated  up 
on  the  stand,  the  convention  was  adjourned  at  his 
suggestion,  that  the  members  might  proceed  to  the 
balcony  to  witness  the  spectacle,  thereby  countenan 
cing  and  approving  the  acts  of  the  mob.  After  a 


256  ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE. 

brief  detention  at  this  place,  he  was  marched  down 
the  street  a  short  distance,  and  then  placed  in  a  boat, 
and  dragged  to  the  beach,  the  crowd  most  of  the 
time  attended  by  Mr.  Galeucia,  a  constable  of  the 
town,  one  of  the  defendants,  who,  as  he  stated  on 
the  stand,  at  no  time  uttered  a  word  of  rebuke  or 
disapprobation.  Upon  the  way  dirt  was  thrown 
upon  his  person.  Finally,  wearied  of  their  efforts, 
after  a  detention  of  from  two  to  three  hours  they 
permitted  the  plaintiff  to  return  to  his  home.  This 
gentlemen,  was  a  practical  and  full  illustration  of  the 
spirit  which  is  higher  and  nobler  than  that  of  the 
law. 

Gentlemen,  a  case  has  been  referred  to  in  the  testi 
mony,  which  occurred  more  than  half  a  century 
since  in  a  neighboring  town ,  which  affords  the  strong 
est  illustration  of  the  injustice  and  cruelty  of  judg 
ing  a  man  without  the  law.  Upon  the  strength  of  a 
wild  rumor,  Skipper  Ire  son  was  seized,  tarred  and 
feathered,  placed  in  a  cart,  drawn  from  Marblehead 
to  Salem,  and  through  the  principal  streets  of  this 
city,  attended  by  an  indignant  crowd  repeating  the 
lines  composed  on  the  occasion,  and  familiar  to  all. 
The  old  man  never  recovered  from  the  effects  of 
this  humiliation.  Yet  now  it  is  well  understood  that 
the  rumor,  upon  the  strength  of  which  these  outrages 
were  committed,  was  false.  Gentlemen,  no  instance 
of  the  acts  of  a  mob  can  be  adduced  where  cruelty 
and  injustice  have  not  been  done  to  the  victim  and 


ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMP  SCOTT  CASE.          257 

public   decency  has  not  been  thoroughly  outraged. 

But  I  trust,  gentlemen,  it  is  not  necessary  before  a 
jury  of  Essex  County,  to  occupy  time  in  arguments 
against  the  evils  of  lawlessness  and  license,  or  to  re 
mind  the  members  of  this  tribunal  of  their  own  obli 
gations  to  the  law.  1  believe  that,  in  your  delibera 
tions,  you  will  be  governed  solely  by  the  instructions 
you  will  receive  from  the  Judge  who  presides  over 
these  deliberations.  Let  none  of  us  assume  to  a 
knowledge  higher  than  that  of  the  law  of  the  land, 
or  aspire  to  a  wisdom  that  is  greater  than  the  wis 
dom  of  the  law.  There  can  never  be  any  excuse  or 
palliation  for  any  violation  of  the  salutary  regula 
tions  that  are  made  for  the  protection  of  all.  The 
law  makes  ample  provisions  for  the  conviction  and 
punishment  of  all  offenders  against  its  majesty,  and 
in  instances  of  gross  violations  of  the  proprieties 
of  life,  in  language  uttered,  which  are  not  within  the 
purview  of  the  Statutes,  there  is  always  a  sufficient 
punishment  to  the  offender  in  the  scorn  and  contempt 
in  which  he  is  held  by  the  community. 

The  great  object  of  law,  gentlemen,  is  the  protec 
tion  of  the  citizen  in  social  life  j  it  throws  around 
every  individual,  high  and  low,  rich  and  poor,  those 
beneficent  and  tranquilizing  securities  which  no 
other  human  instrumentality  can  give.  Without  these 
securities,  there  can  be  no  safety  or  happiness  in  lifo 
— without  them  the  father,  as  he  leaves  his  dwelling 
to  perform  the  duties  of  his  avocation,  must  feel  a 


258  ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE. 

constant  solicitude  for  the  safety  of  those  he  leaves 
behind ;  and  the  wife  and  those]of  tender  age  will 
live  in  perpetual  apprehensions,  not  only  for  their 
own  safety  but  for  the  safety  of  him  who.  has  gone 
forth  from  the  sacred  vprecincts  of  home.  There  can 
be,  gentlemen,  there  is,  no  safety  for  any  one,  any 
where,  except  under  the  protecting  aegis  of  the  law. 
It  is  not  enough  that  laws  be  enacted  alone — they 
must  be  respected  andreverenced  by  the  people,  or  the 
best  code  is  but  a  solemn  mockery  and  farce.  Liber 
ty,  gentlemen,  is  not  license,  it  is  the  right  to  do 
those  things  which  the  law  does  not  prohibit; 
and  the  measure  of  liberty  is  in  the  amount  of  the 
protection  which  is  assured  the  individual  in  doing 
all  those  things  which  he  has  a  right  to  do  under 
the  law.  Liberty  is  maintained  in  its  highest  perfec 
tion  when  the  system  of  laws,  or  restraints  upon  the 
the  actions  of  the  individuals  of  society,  is  most 
wisely  adjusted,  and  the  conduct  of  all  the  members 
of  the  society  is  made  to  fully  conform  to  its  regula 
tions.  If  under  such  a  system  of  laws,  or  any  sys 
tem  of  laws,  one  member  of  society  can  with  impuni 
ty  do  what  the  law  does  not  permit,  there  is  no 
liberty  for  any  one,  as  all  the  other  members  can 
exercise  the  same  power  with  the  same  impunity. 
If  one  man  may  violate  the  law  in  what  he  con 
siders  a  good  cause  to-day,  his  neighbor,  on  the 
strength  of  the  precedent  it  will  afford,  may  vio 
late  it  with  impunity  in  what  the  former  may  con- 


ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMP  SCOTT  CASE.  259 

sider  a  bad  cause  to-morrow.  If  one  having  the 
power  to-day,  exercises  it  against  his  neighbor  for  ex 
pressions  of  opinion  which  he  does  not  approve ;  to 
morrow  the  case  may  be  reversed,  and  his  neighbor 
may  have  and  exercise  the  same  power  against  him 
for  the  utterance  of  opinions  which  the  former  does 
not  approve. 

There  is  no  safety  anywhere  or  to  anybody,  ex 
cept  in  an  exact  obedience  to  the  laws ;  and  if  a  jury 
in  a  case  like  this,  to  which  public  attention  has  been 
strongly  directed,  should  fail  to  carry  out  plain  pro 
visions  of  the  law,  it  would  afford  a  precedent  most 
dangerous  for  the  future,  and  cause  a  general  and 
prevading  sense  of  insecurity  among  the  people. 

The  counsel  for  the  defendants  has  spoken  of  the 
effect  upon  the  community  of  a  verdict  against  his 
clients — that  it  would  cause  sorrow  to  those  he  styles 
the  loyal  portion  of  the  community.  I  deem  it,  gentle 
men,  my  duty  to  say  that,  if  the  case  is  proved  against 
the*  defendants,  the  highest  and  holiest  interests  of 
the  whole  community  demand  that  you  shall  give  a 
verdict  against  them.  Not  only  the  interests  of  the 
community,  but  justice  to  my  client,  and  I  believe 
mercy  to  the  defendants,  require  at  your  hands  a 
rigid  adherence  to  the  provisions  and  rules  of  the 
law.  With  the  spirit  manifested  by  the  defendants 
in  the  commission  of  the  outrage  for  which  they  are 
prosecuted,  in  their  subsequent  acts,  in  their  appear 
ance  on  the  witness  stand,  I  believe  that  if  they  shall 


260          ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE. 

go  from  this  trial  unpunished,  it  will  only  incite 
them  to  further  acts  of  lawlessness  and  outrage,  for 
which  a  more  severe  punishment  than  can  be  meted 
to  them  in  this  case,  will  be  inflicted. 

What  then,  gentlemen,  is  the  charge  against  the 
defendants  to  which  your  attention  is  directed  ? 

The  plaintiff  alleges  that,  on  the  morning  of  the 
fifteenth  day  of  April  last,  whilst  at  work  painting 
the  outside  of  a  house  in  the  town  of  Swampscott,  he 
was  approached  by  the  defendants  and  others,  and 
finally  seized  and  outraged  in  the  manner  I  have 
already  stated.  The  defendants,  in  their  answers  to 
the  plaintiff's  declaration,  only  formally  deny  the  al 
legations,  and  call  upon  the  plaintiff,  as  they  proper 
ly  may  under  the  law,  to  prove  his  case.  They  do 
not  attempt  to  set  up  any  justification,  as  in  law  they 
well  know  there  can  be  none  for  the  acts  if  proved 
as  alleged  against  them. 

There  are  only  two  questions  for  you,  gentlemen 
of  the  jury,  to  pass  upon. 

1st — Did  the  defendants  or  any  of  them  commit 
the  acts  alleged  against  them  ? 

2d — If  they,  or  any  of  them,  did  commit  the  acts, 
what  is  a  proper  compensation  to  the  plaintiff  for 
the  injuries  inflicted  ? 

In  regard  to  all  but  one  of  the  defendants  there  is, 
there  can  be,  no  dispute.  The  proof  submitted  by 
the  plaintiff  against  them  is  amply  sufficient,  but 
that  is  not  all.  Each  one  of  the  defendants  has  been 


AR  G UMENT  IN  S  WA  MP SCOTT  CASE.  261 

placed  by  his  counsel  on  the  stand,  and  has  admitted 
in  detail  ^his  complicity  with  the  outrage.  So  in  re 
gard  to  them  there  can  be  no  doubt  or  question. 
Their  acts  are  not  only  proved,  but  confessed  in 
open  court.  In  regard  to  the  other  defendant, 
Galeucia,  the  constable,  the  evidence  is  that  he,  at 
different  times,  walked  by  the  side  of  the  crowd  and 
did  nothing  and  said  nothing  against  the  commission 
of  the  outrage  of  which  he  was  a  witness.  When  on 
the  stand,  he  admitted  that  he  did  not  attempt  to 
interfere  with  the  proceedings  of  the  mob,  but  said 
that  he  tried  to  keep  himself  clear  of  any  responsibil 
ity.  His  associate  officer,  Mr.  Porter,  on  the  cross- 
examination,  said  that  Galeucia  lent  to  the  mob  the 
official  sanction  of  his  presence.  The  acts  of  this 
officer,  gentlemen,  are  to  be  carefully  scrutinized  by 
you.  It  was  his  sworn  duty  as  an  officer  of  the  law 
to  preserve  the  peace,  and  it  was  plainly  his  duty  to 
attempt,  at  least,  to  put  a  stop  to  the  gross  violations 
of  law  of  which  he  was  a  witness.  Yet,  by  his  pres 
ence  during  the  commission  of  these  acts,  without  a 
word  or  act  of  disapproval,  he  lent  to  the  offenders  his 
countenance  and  approval  of  their  proceedings ,  and 
is  liable  as  principal  equally  with  those  who  took  a 
more  active  part  in  what  was  done.  From  the  evi 
dence,  I  believe  that  no  one  engaged  in  the  trans, 
action  was  more  culpable  than  Mr.  Galeucia,  and  I 
trust  you,  gentleme  n,  will  not  relieve  him  of  the  re 
sponsibility  which  he  thus  voluntarily  assumed. 


262          ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMP SCOTI  CASE. 

Upon  the  question  of  the  amount  of  damages,  the 
counsel  for  the  defendants  has  claimed  that  you 
could  only  find  such  a  sum  as  will  be  a  compensation 
to  the  plaintiff  for  the  injury  done  him,  and  that  you 
should  give  no  exemplary  or  vindictive  damages.  I 
agree  fully  with  the  counsel  in  this.  This  is  a  suit 
to  recover  only  compensation  for  the  personal  inju 
ries  suffered  by  the  plaintiff;  the  punishment  for  the 
disturbance  of  the  peace  of  the  community,  and  as 
an  example  in  the  future,  is  to  be  inflicted  by  indict 
ment,  by  fine  and  imprisonment,  by  tlie  criminal  courts, 
under  the  direction  of  officers  of  the  Commonwealth.  It 
is  only  compensation  that  is  sought  for  here,  com 
pensation  for  the  bodily  injuries  inflicted  on  the  plain 
tiff,  the  bodily  pains  and  the  mental  suffering 
he  endured.  In  due  time,  and  before  the 
proper  tribunal,  the  defendants  will  be  punished  for 
their  violation  of  the  public  peace.  But  the  counsel 
for  the  defendants,  for  the  evident  purpose  of  affect 
ing  the  amount  of  your  verdict,  enlarged  with  much 
eloquence  upon  the  fact  that  a  portion  of  his  clients, 
and  those  most  active  in  the  commission  of  the  out 
rage  upon  the  plaintiff,  were  returned  soldiers,  and 
had  served  their  country  in  the  army  of  the 
Potomac.  I  deem  it  my  duty  to  defend  the  army 
against  the  aspersion  that  is  thus  attempted  to  be 
cast  upon  it.  There  is  no  one  who  entertains  a 
higher  respect  for  the  noble  profession  of  arms  than 
I  do,  and  no  one  who  appreciates  more  fully  the  cour- 


ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE.  263 

age  of  those  who  have  fought  their  country's  battles. 
Entertaining  these  sentiments,  I  must  protest 
against  all  attempts  to  place  such  persons  as  these 
defendants  in  the  position  of  representative  men  of 
the  army  with  which  they  have  been  connected.  It 
is  well  known  that,  although  a  large  majority  of  the 
men  who  composed  our  armies  were  young  men  of 
character  who  returned  from  the  field  ennobled  and 
refined  by  the  discipline  of  the  camp,  yet  that  there 
were  others  who  were  mustered  into  the  service  and 
remained  a  longer  or  a  shorter  time,  who  were  bad 
men  when  they  Centered,  and  much  worse  when  they 
left  the  field.  The  true  soldiers  have  been  engaged 
in  fighting  against  mobs  for  the  maintenance  of  Gov 
ernment  and  law,  and  no  class  of  our  citizens  will 
feel  greater  indignation  at  violations  ot  peace  and 
order^  at  home  than  these  men.  You,  gentle 
men  of  the  jury,  have  listened  to  the  evidence  of  the 
acts  of  these  defendants,  and  what  is  of  greater  im 
portance  you  have  seen  them  and^heard  them  all . 
testify  from  the  stand.  You  are  fully  able  to  judge 
to  which  class  those  of  the  defendants  who  have 
been  connected  with  the  army,  belong.  I  could  ask 
for  nothing  more  severe  for^those  military  defendant s 
than  that  they  should  be  tried  by  a  jury  of  their  com 
rades  whom  they  have  so  disgraced  by  their  acts. 
Such  men  as  those  of  the  defendants  who  have  been 
in  the  army  are  to-day,  and  will  be  more  in  the  fu 
ture,  a  terror  to  the  community,  and  the  sooner  and 


264  ARGUMENT  TN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE. 

the  more  emphatically  they  are  made  to  feel  the 
power  of  the  law  they  have  violated,  the  better  it 
will  be  for  all. 

The  counsel,  who  opened  the  case  for  the  defend 
ants,  expressed  indignation  at  the  term  which  my 
able  associate  applied  to  the  defendants  in  his  open 
ing  argument,  and  referred  with  a  great  deal  of  en 
thusiasm  to  his  clients  as  citizens,  soldiers,  fishermen 
and  tradesmen.  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  say  how 
such  conduct  as  we  have  proved  against  the  defend 
ants  effects  their  counsel,  but  for  my  part  I  can  only 
say  that  my  client,  as  he  looked  upon  the  infuriate 
mob  that  surrounded  him,  might  well  have  imagined 
himself  in  a  den  of  human  hyenas.  Sudh  utter  vio 
lations  of  sacred  personal  rights,  and  gross  injustice 
and  cruelty  as  were  practiced  are  entirely  unpreceden 
ted  in  the  history  of  the  country.  For  these  acts, 
gentlemen,  I  can  conceive  of  no  excuse  or  palliation. 

The  counsel  who  closed  for  the  defendants  seemed 
to  be  imbued  with  the  same  defiant  spirit  which  has 
characterized  his  clients  from  the  date  of  the  com 
mission  of  the  outrage  to  the  present  time ;  the  same 
spirit  that  incited  the  proceedings  of  the  defendants 
on  the  fifteenth  of  April,  their  subsequent  cowardly 
acts  in  destroying  in  the  night  time  the  growing 
crops  of  the  plaintiff,  and  their  conduct  around  his 
dwelling  even  whilst  this  trial  has  been  proceeding. 
The  counsel  in  his  argument,  justified  the  defendants, 
he  gloried  in  their  acts,  and  evidently  considered  the 


ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE.  265 

whole  transaction  as  a  commendable  illustration  of 
the  true  spirit  of  what  he  calls  liberty.  He  seems 
fired  with  the  spirit  of  the  heated  partizan  in  Eng 
land,  who  exclaimed,  "I  wish  I  were  free."  "And  are 
you  not  free/'  replied  a  friend,  "can  you  not  do  as 
you  please  ?"  "yes,"  he  replied,  bnt  I  cannot  make 
you  do  as  I  please."  Is  this  the  liberty  the  counsel 
pants  for  ?  It  is  the  kind  of  liberty  he  has  so  elo 
quently  eulogized.  In  his  wild  enthusiasm  he  has 
even  defied  the  law  and  you  gentlemen  of  the  jury. 
He  said  to  you,  gentlemen,  in  reference  to  his  clients 
that  verdicts  and  judgment,  might  be  repeated  in 
vain — that  their  spirits  could  not  be  repressed.  It 
will  be  your  duty,  gentlemen,  to  test  the  irrepressi 
ble  spirit  of  these  men  by  one  verdict,  and  we  will 
wait  and  see  the  effect.  I  believe  it  will  be.  saluta 
ry  and  repressive. 

Upon  the  question  of  damages,  it  may  be  useiul  to 
carefully  consider  all  the  acts  of  the  defendants  at 
the  time  of  the  commission  of  the  outrage  to  ascer 
tain  fully  the  spirit  by  which  they  were  animated. 
The  greatest  outrage  was  committed  on  the  plaintiff)  yet 
these  irrepressible  men  were  possessed  of  a  spirit  of 
lawlessness,  or  as  their  counsel  prefers  to  style  it,  of 
liberty,  which  was  not  confined  to  acts  against  the 
plaintiff.  On  the  way  to  the  rendezvous,  which  was 
the  village  Post  Office,  the  mob  met  a  Mr.  Reynolds 
on  his  wagon.  He  was  admonished  to  leave  at  once , 
or  as  Mr.  Brackett  said,  to  make  himself  scarce 


266  ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE. 

as  Mr.  Brackett  stated,  he  had  uttered  expressions 
similar  to  those  rumor  had  attributed  to  the  plain 
tiff,  but  upon  cross-examination,  Mr.  Brackett  was 
compelled  to  admit  that  he  had  never  uttered  a  word . 

They  next  pass  Mr.  Hill,  the  milk-man,  just  as 
the  courageous  Mr.  Blaney  struck  the  plaintiff  on 
the  face.  Mr.  Hill  exclaimed,  "It  is  too  bad"  where 
upon  a  portion  of  the  mob  turned  upon  and  severely 
beat  him,  and  compelled  him  to  take  refuge  in  the 
woods.  A  little  further  on  they  met  Mr.  Alexander 
Greenlaw  returning  in  a  wagon  from  the  village  to 
his  home.  He  was  stopped,  accused  of  using  lan 
guage  similar  to  that  attributed  to  the  plaintiff,  and 
threatened  with  a  similar  treatment,  and,  later  still 
in  the  proceedings,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  mob 
said  to  a  citizen  who  was  gazing  on  the  spectacle 
from  his  carriage,  ''This  is  the  way  we  are  goiog  to 
serve  the  whole  of  you."  Thus  was  fully  manifested 
the  spirit  of  these  irrepressible  men. 

The  details  of  the  outrages  on  the  plaintiff  have 
been  recited.  As  they  transpired  they  called  forth 
feelings  and  expressions  of  sorrow  and  indignation 
from  every  impartial  witness  of  their  atrocity.  Mr- 
Atkins,  a  near  neighbor  of  the  plaintiff,  testified  that 
he  felt  so  badly  when  he  witnessed  the  spectacle  that 
he  immediately  went  into  his  house.  Mr.  Hill  could 
not  refrain  from  expressing  his  indignation,  when  he 
saw  the  plaintiff  struck  in  the  face.  Mr.  Greene 
when  the  plaintiff  was  about  to  be  tarred  and  feath- 


ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE.  267 

ered.  although  from  his  testimony  on  the  stand  it 
appeared  he  was  either  in  sympathy  with  or  in  fear 
of  the  rioters,  cried  out,  -'For  God's  sake  let  the 
man  speak,"  and  Mr.  Leavitt  in  reply  to  a  remark  of 
Segur,  one  of  the  defendants,  exclaimed,  "It  is  the 
worst  sight  I  ever  saw."  Such  were  the  feelings 
which  the  acts  of  these  irrepressible  men  excited  in 
the  breasts  of  honest  citizens  at  the  time,  and  such  to 
day  are  the  feelings  of  all  good  citizens  of  Swamp- 
scott,  whose  peace  has  been  so  violently  outraged  by 
the  wicked  conduct  of  a  portion  of  her  misguided 
people. 

In  regard  to  the  rumors  against  the  plaintiff,  there 
is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  uttered  a  word  offensive 
to  the  most  patriotic  ear.  He  never  did  utter  any.  If 
it  had  been  competent,  we  could  have  fully  proved 
that  the  rumor  which  was  circulated,  upon  the  strength 
of  which  the  outrage  was  committed,  was  devoid  o 
truth ;  and  it  will  be  borne  in  mind,  no  two  of  the 
defendants  gave  the  same  version  of  the  rumor  it 
self. 

The  amount  of  the  damages  it  is  for  you,  gentle, 
men,  to  determine.  It  is  for  you  to  say  what  is  a 
proper  compensation  to  the  plaintiff  for  all  the  in 
jury  that  has  been  proved.  A  worthy  and  peace 
able  -citizen,  one  who  has  ever  been  strictly  faithful 
to  all  his  obligations  to  the  community  and  the  conn, 
try,  has  been  seized  and  treated  with  an  inhumanity 
paralleled  only  in  savage  life,  and  it  is  for  you,  gentle 


268  ARGUMENT  IN  SWAMPSCOTT  CASE 

men,  to  fix  the  compensation  for  the  outrage. 

The  people  of  Essex  County  have  been  long  dis 
tinguished  as  a  law  abiding,  law  sustaining  people,  and 
it  is  you?  responsible  duty  to  see  to  it,  gentlemen, 
that  this  reputation  suffers  no  detriment  at  your 
hands.  It  is  for  you,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  to  render 
such  a  verdict  as  you  can  in  the  future  look  back  upon 
with  satisfaction,  and  one  that  will  meet  with  the  ap 
proval  of  all  good  men  in  the  community. 

The  jury  returned  a  verdict  against  all  the  de 
fendants,  assessing  damages  in  the  sum  of  $800 


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